


Red Lightning: Gods Amongst Us

by ConnerWivACheetahGun



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: Alternate Universe - British, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Character Death, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-23 08:46:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 30,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9648554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConnerWivACheetahGun/pseuds/ConnerWivACheetahGun
Summary: One day, the lives of three best friends were changed forever, by a mysterious red storm. Now, these three must leave their world and discover a new world; one full of warring drug cartels, cyborg assassins and rastafarian ghost stories. All characters belong to their respective owners. Please comment.





	1. Length and Breathe

**Red Lightning: The Gods are Amongst Us**   
**S1E1: Length and Breathe**

_My life changed when a storm, full of red lightning, split the sky in half as it struck the ground._

_My friend Double-D was given super speed. He's all good and justice and stuff, but he's a good guy to have in a fist-fight now. He calls himself Flashpoint now._

_As for me, I'm a giant, metal man. Half the time, anyway. I'm untouchable, stronger than anything, and all it takes are some magic words. Who am I? I'm Quarterback!_

**-Eddy McGee**

* * *

 

It was late in the afternoon, the sky was bright orange with purple lashes, and the schools were long since closed. There was a slight breeze, blowing some shrivelled up dead leaves along the pavement, creating a soft, scratching noise.

The empty high street had but one character, a young man dragging his heels with his hands shoved down his pockets, as he slowly kicked a can down the avenue, heading for the Cul-de-Sac.

The teen had bright orange hair that stuck out in a tuft at the front, buzzed short at the sides, and was braided into a ponytail at the back.

Kevin was peeved beyond recognition. He had caught that dork Eddy trying to sell photographs of that...Quarterface guy...in the cafeteria. There was an altercation, and just as Kevin was about to clean that twerp's clock...

Kevin didn't even know what happened. Double-D came out of nowhere. And he was so fast, Kevin was already slugged in the gut before he could see Double-D even move. After being tossed about and thrown to the floor, Kevin did something stupid.

* * *

 

_Since the storm, something happened to him. His body had changed. It was stretchy, and flexible. Flexible like his morals._

_His arms extended, ready to wrap around Double-D's throat. He suddenly realised what he'd done. It was a public place. What he could do wasn't normal. Outing himself would destroy his life. He'd be a freak._

_His arms quickly went back to normal length before anyone could see. But then that damn Mr. Burgess came in, and saw Kevin with his hands at Eddy and Double-D._

_Detention had been very long that evening._

* * *

 

His thoughts were interrupted by a whistle.

He turned around to see three skinheads, like some Hitler Youths, or Blackbury Skins, or some such gang.

All three were eyeing him up intensely.

"Hey _buddy_..." The middle one said in a thick Liverpudlian accent. "Care to talk."

"Piss off!" Kevin grunted, turning his back and continuing to walk.

Kevin continued to walk, before he heard a bang and felt a sudden jolt in the back of his head. He looked up and saw his forehead was sticking out like a unicorn horn. He put his fingers to the back of his head, feeling a hole. The forehead reset itself, and pushed out a small metal slug into his fingers. It was a bullet. They had shot him!

"Hey, boss was right; he's one a'them superhuman psychos." The smallest one shouted.

He threw the bullet to the ground, and gritted his teeth.

_"Big mistake,_ _**Smeg-Heads** _ _!"_

Kevin lashed his arms out, stretching them into long, rubbery cables. He expanded his fists, and whipped his right arm at the pavement, ripping it up, the skinheads flying back.

Kevin fired a fist at the biggest one, slugging his fist into the Big Guy's stomach.

However, Kevin wasn't prepared for what were to happen next. Big Guy grabbed Kevin's wrist, holding it fast.

Kevin tried to retract, but the other two produced cattleprods, activating them and ramming them into Kevin's wrist. Electricity crackled through his elastic flesh, pumping to his body through his heart, causing him great pain.

The big guy yanked on his arm, Kevin's induced paralysis making his flesh solid and brittle, and Kevin tumbled towards them. Big Guy pushed him to the floor and knelt on his back, pinning him.

"Get the collar, _quickly_!" The Liverpudlian shouted, as the small one produced a metallic strip.

Kevin got his mobility back, and stretched his neck out, head butting the big guy in the stomach. Big Guy rolled off Kevin, and the rubber man snaked himself away, until the Liverpudlian grabbed a cattleprod and rammed it into Kevin's leg, causing Kevin such great pain the boy passed out.

The little guy then strapped the collar to Kevin's neck, and everything went black.

* * *

 

_The Next Day..._

Eddy and Ed were chillin' at the school cafeteria. Third period had ended, and the both of them had frees up until the end of the day.

Ed's hair had grown in recent years, and became very unruly, coming out in spiky prongs, like a sun. He wore a blue T-Shirt with a yellow "Camera Dude" logo, and a grey undershirt. He kept his big green jacket from his younger days, but now he had grown larger it was quite form-fitting. His monobrow was still present, indestructible as ever.

Eddy had grown taller, but was still short for his age. He was well built, even if he had a bit of a gut. Is hair had grown longer, sticking out in three great prongs. He wore a maroon button-up with a popped collar, and teal-jeans with red chuck taylors.

"So, you catch that movie last night?" Ed asked, as he sipped from a can of coke. "The one with the robots?"

"Nah, telly's out mate." Eddy said. "Got busted when I came home...y'know...shiny."

"Ah, I get it." Ed said. "You wanna' come over tonight, watch a flick?"

"Nah, Dad's making burritos. THAT is something I can't miss." Eddy said as he gulped down the last of his Monster energy drink, and crushed the can against his head.

"Dude, does that, y'know, hurt when you're not shiny?" Ed asked, wondering aloud.

"Not as much, but yeah." Eddy said, rubbing his head.

The chatter continued for a good fifteen minutes, the two friends just talking about the upcoming coursework, and Eddy concluding Double-D would definitely have the time to do it for them now.

Ed's iPhone flashed and vibrated on the table, and Ed picked it up. It was his News App, downloaded for his Print Journalism classes. He scanned it, reading intently.

"Wassup Monobrow?" Eddy asked.

"Oh my god," Ed said, staring at the phone in disbelief. "It's Kevin."

"Huh?" Eddy raised an eyebrow, his mouth full of sausage roll.

"Just look!?" Ed said as he put the phone to Eddy's face.

" _KEYP PEECH CREKE WYRDE: Da Blog."_ Eddy read aloud. _"Mister Fantastic in street clothes tears up Rethink Avenue. I've seen it. I swear. N.U. Tter."_

"Ed, what have I told you about following Loony blogs? Eddy said.

"Eddy, don't ya get it?" Ed sighed. "If you and Double-D are, y'know, as you are, whos to say other people arn't like you, _huh_?"

Eddy paused to consider this, before digging into his trousers and digging out his phone.

"I'm calling Double-D."

* * *

 

Double-D was sitting in the gymnasium bleachers', working on his sketchpad, and paying little attention to what was going on. His class was physical education, and the everyone had to run 100 laps. Double-D had done them in ten-minutes, and he had to admit it took a lot of restraint to manage going that slowly.

Mr. Meaner, although dumbfounded when Double-D barely showed any signs of physical exertion, asked Double-D to take it easy, afraid he may have some kind of energy disorder or heart condition, and didn't want Double-D to collapse on his watch.

"So watcha' doing?"

Double-D looked up from his sketchpad to see Nazz, dressed in her cheerleading uniform. The cheer squad was practicing their routine for the big football game next Friday. With Kevin as the Striker, Rolf as Goalie and Double-D on left wing, Peach Creek was sure to win against Cherry River.

"Just sketching out some frames for my Print Class." He said with a toothy smile. Double-D had braces, in an attempt to close up the gap in his teeth. So far, it was working, although he did miss apples.

Double-D had grown tall, around 6.3, and was a little more muscular, especially since the...event, that had recently taken place. He had changed out of his gym cloths, and was back to wearing his black-t-shirt with "Stay Safe" and a smiley face on it in white print, tattered grey jeans and black wristbands. His hat was still present, although his hair had grown out, in blonde locks with natural black highlights, and the beginnings of a small beard on his chin.

Nazz was still small, and very, very lithe, due to endless calorie counting and exercise. Her blonde hair was in a new fashion, with loose ringlets. Her chest had gotten larger, if nothing else.

"You mind if I take a seat?" Nazz asked.

"I'd be offended if you didn't." Double-D said with a polite smile and nod.

Nazz sat next to Double-D, conspicuously skootching over so her butt was pressed up against his hips.

Double-D noticed this, and was about to ask her to budge out a bit, but then stomach rumbled, and he looked down, and quickly forgot about Nazz.

"Hehe," Double-D chuckled to himself. "Guess I really should have eaten another bowl of coco pops before I left for school today."

Nazz leaned over to see what Double-D had been sketching.

"Dude, that's so cool. Kinda like those weird guys on the news lately."

True to her words, Double-D had sketched out a brief picture of Flashpoint, Quarterback, and Handsome Jack. Flashpoint and Quarterback were a duo of crime fighters that had appeared out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago. They left no prints or tire tracks, only the busted heads of drug-dealers and tied up vandals.

Handsome Jack was the ever enigmatic YouRoll persona, speaking only in altered voice and wearing a reflective, featureless chrome mask, making announcements to criminals and posting Flashpoint and Quarterbacks amazing criminal conquests.

"Oh really," Double-D said with a smirk, "I hadn't noticed."

"Seriously, it's like you've seen 'em up close or somethin'." Nazz said. The two just sat down, Nazz drinking from her water bottle, when Double-D's phone rang.

"Hello?" He said. "Hey Eddy, wassup."

Nazz could only hear Double-D's uh-huhs and yuh-huhs. The boy hung up, and stood up.

"You going then?" Nazz asked.

"Yeah, I've got to run, in more ways than you can imagine." Double-D smiled. "Sir, I'm late for a doctor's appointment." He lied through his teeth.

"Of course Waters. Get outta here. You need to get that heart thing sorted out!" Mr. Meaner yelled, pointing to the door.

Double-D nodded, and just to make the gym teacher's jaw drop, sprinted out, doing a double front flip as he went out the door.

* * *

 

Double-D met up with Eddy and Ed after signing out of school. Eddy and Ed where gearing up with Ed's motorbike, with Eddy getting in his canary yellow hatchback.

"So, we going down town?" Double-D asked.

"Yeah. We'll meet you there." Eddy said as he fired up the engine, and Ed revved.

"Gotcha." Double-D said as he blurred out.

Double-D dashed down the highway, expertly dodging cars. But first, he took a quick stop at his home. He needed a better outfit.

* * *

 

Flashpoint blurred into Rethink Avenue, skidding into a puddle. It was pretty beat up.

Flashpoint was dressed in a black wetsuit, with green lightning covering it. Strangely, the lightning seemed to dance and constantly change on his outfit.

"HEY!" He shouted. "Who's there?"

"Cor, look at that, mates. It's not Halloween mate, it's not Halloween."

Double-D turned to face the liverpudlian accent behind him, and saw three thugs, the smallest one carrying a futuristic remote control.

"Hey, is one o' them Supes, innhe." The smaller one said. "Y'think the boss might wan' 'im?"

"Probably. Dude's pretty fast." The big one said.

"I've gotta idea." The liverpudlian said. "Let's make the one we got fight. If trick-or-treater wins, the boss'll wan' 'im. If he don't, hey, free show."

The little guy pressed a button on the remote, and Double-D felt the floor ripple. The "puddle" Edd had been standing in groaned and stretched, and gained all sorts of colours. The "puddle" was Kevin, mesmerised by the collar.

" _ **KEVIN**_?" Double-D shouted. "YOU'RE... _LIKE ME_?"

"Hey, Elastic-Man. Put da squeeze on 'im!" The liverpudlian shouted, as the small one pressed the big red button on the control. Red electricity crackled around Kevin's neck, and his eyes glazed back, and he swung his elongated arm.

Kevin launched his two fists, the two rubbery projectiles fired from Kevin's extendable arms. Double-D blurred out to dodge them, and the fists kept coming before hitting the ground, smashing the pavement into the bits.

Double-D appeared behind Kevin, and applied a volley of strikes to the small of Kevin's back. The rubber flesh bounced straight back though.

Kevin's body wobbled and rippled, and soon he was facing Double-D without turning around.

"AH!" Double-D said in shock, as he ran in the opposite direction, at sonic speed.

Kevin stretched out an arm down the high street, over the horizon, before retracting it, with Double-D ensnared. Kevin whipped his arm sideways, throwing Double-D into the wall.

Kevin retracted his arm again, before whipping it out and wrapping around Flashpoint's waist while he was still down. Kevin tossed his arm into the sky, allowing Double-D do a reverse bungee. Kevin tugged again, slamming his arm back into the pavement, smashing it up.

Before Double-D could make impact, he spun, creating a small dervish that liquefied Kevin's arm. He hopped out before the arm could make a splash. Kevin solidified his arm quickly, and the two found themselves in a stand-off, with the skinheads watching on the sidelines.

The little guy pressed another button on the remote, and Kevin's muscles tightened and bulked, creating a painful noise. Soon Kevin was build like a tank, but still very stretchy.

Double-D saw this, and ran for the skinheads, but Kevin's elongated arm swung and batted him away.

Double-D tumbled a bit before regaining his bearings.

"Hey Zippy, I'd focus of the other freak if I were you." The Liverpudlian sniggered, and the little guy pressed another button. Kevin's collar crackled and he roared animalistically, and charged towards Double-D.

"Sorry Kevin, but you forced my hand!" Double-D shouted. He stuck his arm out in front of himself and spun his arm around and around like propeller. It was so fast it created a wind funnel that hit Kevin square in the chest. Kevin was forced backwards, but his feet remained planted, and his rubbery body bounced back with ease.

Double-D bolted, running down the avenue. Kevin followed, launching his fists at Double-D, who jumped and dodged each one, allowing them to hit the building he was standing behind. But Kevin still punched, more and more, forcing Double-D to become even more acrobatic. Double-D ran along the walls, and jumped away to avoid the incoming flurry of fists. He hopped back down to the pavement, only to see Kevin in-front of him.

"Impossible!" Double-D shouted before Kevin walloped him, sending him flying.

Double-D landed unceremoniously on his back, bouncing and tumbling onto the pavement. He tucked and rolled, landing on his feet. Before Kevin could make another move, Double-D ran around in a circle, entrapping Kevin a cyclone. The vortex lifted Kevin off the ground, leaving him hovering helplessly. Kevin shouted, and stretched his arm down to the floor, grabbing the pavement. Pulling himself down to Terra Firma, Kevin stretched his other arm out to thwack Double-D as he galloped round for another lap.

Double-D ran into the arm, and before he knew it Kevin had constricted him lick a boa, squeezing the speedster tight.

"Now we got 'im." The big guy said with a sadistic grin.

Unable to move or getaway, Double-D stood still, before an idea struck him. Double-D began to vibrate on the spot, faster and faster, before a red aura overtook him. He shook some more, before finally bursting into flames. Kevin's arm almost exploded off him, allowing Double-D to give Kevin the slip.

" _YOU WANK'A!"_ The Liverpudlian shouted. _"Don't le'ggo!"_

And with that he snatched the remote from the little guy, and began to control Kevin himself.

Double-D decided it was time for a retreat, and he ran down the avenue. Kevin retracted both his arms back to him, and then threw them out again, stretching his arms out after Double-D. His fingers stretched out to form Gates and Cages, blocking Double-D at every turn.

Double-D was backed against a wall as Kevin fired his fists at him. Double-D barely dodged the deadly jabs as he shuffled about the wall. Double-D spun around and around, creating a small drill like formation and ploughed his way the wall, and the wall following, and so on, creating a series of amusing Double-D shaped holes.

* * *

 

Eddy's walked out of Anil's Cafe, a small coffee-house on the high street a good five blocks away from Rethink Avenue. He popped the last bite of his ham roll into his mouth and downed the last few gulps of his coffee.

Ed was waiting outside, looking slightly annoyed.

"Did you really have to stop for food?" He asked.

"Hey," Eddy pointed a finger at Ed as he pressed the button on his car-keys, unlocking his hatchback. "Me and Double-D eat a lot. It's how we work now. I wouldn't be surprised if he stopped for nachos or something before beating us to the action."

* * *

 

Double-D leaned against the wall of the abandoned leisure centre, next to some vending machines. The entire block was evacuated due to "The Monster". It wouldn't be too long before the boys in blue got here. Double-D needed to wrap things up, quickly.

His stomach roared again. He was so hungry. His speed was starting to suffer for it. He looked from left to right. Nobody was around.

Double-D punched through the glass door of one of the vending machines. He grabbed some candy-bars and unpeeled them, shovelling the chocolate into his mouth. He swallowed, and the rumbling ceased.

He vibrated a bit, feeling slightly more energised, but not as much as he would've like to be.

He heard shouting, some in a Liverpudlian accent. Those thugs were controlling Kevin like a puppet. But how were they doing it? Double-D tried to think, but the adrenaline was clouding his thoughts a bit.

The collar.

Kevin had been wearing a metal collar. And it looked like it hurt him whenever the thugs used that remote.

Double-D stood up, and reached into the vending machine. Grabbing a can of Monster Energy drink, he cracked it open and chugged it. It was foul, but the caffeine and sugar pulsed through him, giving him a boost in speed that was so vital now he knew what the stakes were.

Double-D vibrated quickly, and blurred out.

Double-D blurred in, right in front of The Liverpudlian. Double-D slugged him in the stomach, causing the lanky skinhead to drop the remote as he went flying. The other two scrambled for the remote, but Double-D was too quick for them. He swatted the little one away, and then kicked and kicked the big one in the chest, dropping to the floor and sweeping the big one's legs, causing him to topple.

Double-D grabbed the remote, and looked at it with puzzlement. How in the world did this thing _work?_ It was a big box of buttons, switches, levers and blinking lights.

His stood there in puzzlement, until The Liverpudlian swung his arm around Double-D's neck. Double-D, by virtue of what he was, was far stronger than Liverpudlian, but realised that scuffling would only waste time, especially as the other two closed in, armed with the cattleprods.

The two thugs rammed the prods into Double-D's sides, causing Flashpoint to writhe in pain. Flashpoint collapse on the ground, causing him to drop the remote, which slid to the Liverpudlian's feet.

He picked up the remote, and motioned for the other two thugs to drop Flashpoint. They did so, throwing him to the static Kevin's feet.

"Gotta say Zippy, ya' put up a damn good fight." The little one said. "But now's da time ta pay da piper."

The Liverpudlian pushed a big red button on the remote. Kevin's collar crackled with electricity, and he bulked up even more. Kevin growled as he raised his arms above his head, higher and higher. He morphed them together to form a hammer. Kevin was gonna smash Double-D. Flashpoint tried to move and get away, but he was too weak from the electricity.

Kevin roared as he brought the hammer down. Double-D flinched and the thugs cheered. They think it's all over.

But then, a miracle happened.

A canary yellow Hatchback burst through the crumbling wall, hitting Kevin and knocking him away. The door flung open, and out stamped Eddy, looking pissed.

"My car!" He shouted. He shot the ugliest of looks at the skinheads. "Look what you made me do!"

"Oy mate, you just made a big mistake doing that." The Big Guy said as he brandished a cattleprod.

There was a roaring noise, a continuous rev that grew louder and louder. Then there was a very loud, deep **"Yeah-Yup-Ya-Wooo!"**.

Ed's motorbike flew over the wreckage, and over the heads of the skinheads. He landed clear on two wheels. Ed wore his Handsome Jack disguise, a Picklehaub Helmet with a circus mask over his face. He held up his video camera with pride.

"Hey Eddy!" He shouted. "How 'bout a money shot?"

Eddy grinned at this. And then he shouted.

" **IRON UP!"**

Eddy's frame expanded exponentially, until he had at least doubled in height. Standing at 9-ft. tall and weighing in at 400 lbs., and made entirely of a gleaming, golden metal, stronger than steel. His shirt was ripped off, and his trousers were ripped at the calves, but held steady.

"It's another one!" The little one shouted.

"My god, they're a dime a dozen, isn't they." The Liverpudlian scoffed, before brandishing his own cattleprod. "Thats a neat trick you got there, you is real shiny. I reckon I could get more than a few bob for you at the car-boot sale."

The Liverpudlian shoved the electrified cattleprod in Quarterback's face; you just grabbed it at the hilt, and snapped it by squeezing slightly. The Liverpudlian's face fell, in shock and horror.

"Aww...smeg." He said quietly, as Quarterback slammed his two hands together in a big clap. The metallic clang was so great and loud it created a boom, a mighty gust that blew back the Liverpudlian and caused the other-two skinheads to fall.

Eddy turned and stepped to the fallen big one, and before he could get up, he grabbed the big guy by the ankle.

"ED! WAKE UP DOUBLE-D!" Eddy shouted as he swung the big guy around and around, before he slammed the Big Guy on top of the little guy, knocking them both out.

"RIGHT! I'll do ya' for that!" The liverpudlian shouted as he grabbed the remote control. "Hey stretch, grind 'em ta pieces! Den grind 'is pieces ta pieces!"

Kevin roared as the remote forced him to attack, and Kevin stretched his body and arms, lunging at Eddy. Kevin wrapped himself around the metal man like a Christmas present. Kevin constricted, tightening his grip and immobilising Eddy.

"That's right, keep 'im steady." The liverpudlian chuckled as he activated the cattleprod. Eddy tried to struggle, but Kevin held him fast. The Liverpudlian walked slowly towards Eddy, ready to ram the cattleprod into Eddy's chest.

_***THWACK*** _

Ed had sucker-punched The Liverpudlian with his elbow, grabbing the Cattleprod as The Liverpudlian fell.

"Double-D, take this." Ed said. "Eddy's in trouble."

He tossed the Cattleprod to the side, and a green-and-black blur sped past him, snatching the Casttleprod and ramming it into Kevin and Eddy. Electricity crackled over the two of them. Eddy and Kevin both howled in pain, but Kevin unravelled, allowing Eddy to go free. Kevin shrank back to his normal slender form, but was more of a stringy, smouldering pile of length due to the shocks. Eddy shrugged off the shock, and grabbed the incapacitated Kevin by the ankle, and Double-D grabbed the wrists.

"Hold him steady, Eddy. I know what to do." Double-D said. Holding Kevin's wrist, Double-D ran up and down the street, weaving in and out of the few lampposts that were still standing.

Double-D weaved expertly, before too-long Kevin wound tightly around the erect posts, Eddy followed example and tied Kevin's legs in a knot. Kevin woke up, and without the controls to keep him sedated, began snarling and growling, gnashing his teeth at The Eds. His neck stretched out, and he slammed his head into Ed's stomach. Double-D rushed over and helped Ed get a grip on Kevin's head.

"Eddy, I need you to rip off the collar!" Double-D shouted, pointing to the metal band around Kevin's windpipe.

Eddy nodded and cracked his metal knuckles, before delivering a huge strike, breaking the collar in two with one punch.

Kevin's body instantly relaxed and went flaccid. Kevin's limbs all untied themselves as they loosed, and shrank back into his body. He slumped to the floor, coughing.

"Oh...my head." He moaned. "It hurts! What did those _**SMEG-HEADS**_ do to me?"

Flashpoint turned to Handsome Jack.

"Can you take him home. I've a feeling that he's going to be out of it for a while."

Ed nodded, and put his head under Kevin's shoulder, leading the drowsy guy to his Motorcycle.

Double-D knelt down, picking up the fragments of the collar. He shook his head, stuffing them into his pockets.

"Anyway, thanks a lot Eddy. I owe you a lot." Double-D smiled.

"Don't mention it." Eddy said with a grin, pulling in Double-D to his metal chest and giving him a brass-noogie.

Both laughed heartily, until the rumbling of both their stomachs.

"Burger King?"

"Oh god yes! I'm starving."

* * *

 

Eddy and Ed sat down at their booth with four trays, piled high with fast food. Double-D was poking at the fragments of the collar.

"Watcha' looking at Double-D?" Ed asked.

"I'm just thinking. Those skinheads used this to control Kevin like a puppet. And they knew what we were! All this is just a little too huge for a couple of street thugs." Double-D said.

"So, just do your science whizz-kid thing and figure it out, right?" Eddy said while biting into his Big Whopper.

"I'm afraid I'm not that smart Eddy. I have no idea how long it'll take to wrap my head around this tech. I just wish I could find a guy who was familiar with this tech."

There was a small pause, before Ed cleared his throat.

"Well, if you're fast, Eddy's shiny, and Kevin's elastic, who's to say there's not a guy who's smart?" Ed said.

Eddy's mouth hung open, allowing some fries to drop out.

"So, you're saying that there could be more, y'know, people like us." Eddy asked.

"Well, the event happened to us. Why not others?" Double-D said. "But that only means we need to be ready. If we can do the impossible, so can anybody else."

* * *

 

_**SOON TO COME ON RED LIGHTNING: THE GODS ARE AMONGST US** _

**Eddy and Ed's nightly patrol turns into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, with the stakes higher than ever. Kevin begins a hunt for the people who saved him, and a hunt for the people who used him. Meanwhile, Double-D meets another almost exactly like him.**


	2. Kage no Mori

**Red Lightning: The Gods are Amongst Us  
S1E2: Kage no Mori**

_My life changed when a storm, full of red lightning, split the sky in half as it struck the ground._

_My friend Double-D was given super speed. He's all good and justice and stuff, but he's a good guy to have in a fist-fight now. He calls himself Flashpoint now._

_As for me, I'm a giant metal man. Half the time, anyway. I'm untouchable, stronger than anything, and all it takes are some magic words. Who am I? I'm Quarterback!_

**-Eddy McGee**

* * *

 

Ed and Eddy were sitting in Eddy's canary yellow hatchback, looking out on the shopping complex. Parked somewhere in the Entertainment District. With Eddy's illegal window-tint, and the engine turned off, it blended perfectly with the other cars that were parked for the night.

"So, my cousin's going to have the baby in a month's time. My moms are gonna take us all to Blackpool for the christening, but we're also gonna' spend the rest of the week at the pier." Ed finished, before taking a gulp from his coffee.

"Oh, cool. Is it a boy or a girl?" Eddy asked.

"I dunno, Sarah says she won't even let me near the baby when it's born." Ed said.

"Yeah, well, my pa's taking me back to America for the Easter holidays. He says the old tribe's meeting up for a family reunion. Y'know, to scatter gramp's ashes." Eddy shrugged, taking another large bite out of his donut.

"That's cool." Ed said. "Hey, remind me again why Double-D couldn't be here?"

"Damn it Ed, remember this time!" Eddy grunted. "He's trying to figure out that wacky collar that those schmucks strapped on Kevin."

"Cool, cool." Ed grinned. His grin disappeared as he noticed shapes near the old electronics building. The shapes were climbing the walls and getting onto the roof.

"Hey, you see that?" Ed asked, tapping Eddy's arm, and pointing to the shapes.

Eddy squinted, his vision much better than his human companion's.

"Now, that is suspicious." Eddy said. "Let's go scope it out."

* * *

Ed was thrown by Eddy to the roof, and he landed on his feet, crouching and balancing himself with one hand, landing with a semi-graceful thud.

"Yo, Burrhead, you see anything!" Eddy hissed.

Ed looked around, seeing nothing but shadows. But his ears pricked up. He heard metallic swishes. Something was behind him.

He tucked and rolled, narrowly avoiding the blade of a kusarigama.

"EDDY! I've got company!" Ed shouted, as he dodged a Naginata blade. He flipped forward, quick to dodge the weapon.

He heard more swishing sounds, both metallic and meat-like. Thuds, like people landing in the shadows. Ed was virtually blind, but he could hear.

"HYYAA!"

Ed flipped, dodging the oncoming attack. It was a girl, a small one at that, barely 100 pounds, and at least a head shorter that he was. She was wielding two Sai weapons.

She had silver hair, although it was purple at the roots. It was short and spiky at the front, but was longer at the back, kept back by a large pink bow. She was a skin-tight leather outfit, covering her top, neck, wrists, thighs, pelvis and calves. The rest was bare-skin. Her skin was pale, and she was of mixed decent, Ed clearly making out both Chinese and Caucasian features, but her face was covered by a dark blue domino mask. Most indirectly, her shoulders had an extravagant feather structure, like fins of black and white feathers. She also had a dark blue tattoo under her eye, like a slash mark. On her black and purple leather tunic, she bore the kanji for "Roxie", on her left breast.

She roared and lunged, two fast for Ed to dodge. With her Sai, she ensnared his wrists in the space between the monouchi and the yoku of the Sai. The sai wear punched into the roof floor, cuffing Ed down.

"No witnesses." She growled. Ed heard a metallic _*shink*_ behind him. Several footsteps, all ever and forcing the earth to shudder. Someone was behind him. Ed felt a girl's hand at the back of his head, pushing his head down and forward, exposing his neck.

**"EDDY!"** Ed shouted. **"HELP ME!"**

"Don't worry Ed!" Eddy shouted from the ground level. "I got something that'll really bring down the house!"

On the ground, Eddy took a run up. He then bolted, heading straight for the electronics building wall.

**_"IRON UP!"_ **

Eddy's skeleton creaked and expanded, and his skin solidified. His innards faded and he became metal, all the way through.

Quarterback thundered into the wall, bulldozing it with ease and bringing down the building. It collapsed in a veritable landslide of rubble.

Ed's fist burst out of the rubble, and Quarterback's golden hand grabbed it and yanked, pulling the rest of him out.

Ed bent down, hands on his knees, gasping for air.

"Oh, god. They were gonna cut my head off!" Ed shouted.

"Wait, who were?" Eddy responded in shock.

There were more swish noises, more metallic than anything else, and before Ed or Eddy knew it, they were both surrounded by four ninjas.

With breasts.

The first was Roxie, wielding her twin Sai.

The second was far larger than Roxie. She wore a red and black tunic that covered most off her torso, with a golden sash between her breasts and belly. Her tunic was completed with slits down her chest and at the bottom at the thighs. She had a large rack and large belly. Her hair was chestnut brown, tide in four ox horns at the back, letting her fringe spike out a bit. She had black and crimson leggings, and wielded two Shinken. On her sash, she bore the kanji for _"Moka"_.

The third was slimmer than Moka and shorter than Roxie. She wore a black and purple leather tunic with leather leggings up to her thighs, and leather sleeves on her forearms. She had scruffy blue hair that looked like it was cut by a sword. Strangely, she wore a headband with cat ears on them, and had purposely cut her lip to resemble a cat-smile. In her hand she wielded a Naginata spear, and on her hip was the kanji for _"Neko"_.

The final girl was as taller that Moka, and slimmer. She had long, flowing black hair, and wore a blue make-up mask. She wore a red and black leather outfit, composed mainly of bands that wrapped around her chest and stomach, with tights to cover her pelvis. Her arms were fully exposed to the elements, and she wielded a Kusarigama and she wore a sash across her torso. Her calves were covered by black bands, and the bands wrapped over her heels. Her kanji read as _"Ju"._

Each female ninja looked at the pair like a meal. Moka twizzled her swords in her hands, and Neko gripped her Naginata, purring as she did.

Roxie repeated what she said early.

"NO WITNESSES!"

The ninjette's retreated into the shadows and dust created by the rubble, almost vanishing. There was more metallic swishes, and more swirls in the shadows. The girls were surrounding them.

The was a shout, and Moka bodyslammed Eddy from the side. Apparently used to that technique working, Moka didn't expect to harmlessly bounce off of Eddy's invincible form. Tucking and Rolling, she quickly got back on her feet, and kicked a pile of rubble with all her strength, creating a shroud of dust. She sank into it, and shouted again, reappearing from a totally different ankle. She swung her twin swords, attempting to cut Eddy. The swords shattered upon contact with Eddy's golden skin.

"Ed, get behind me!" Eddy shouted. Ed did so, and Eddy was in full on defence mode.

It was on.

* * *

 

Eddy was the first to dive into the fray, headstrong and confident that his golden hide would protect him.

He was correct, as Moka and Neko double-teamed him with their own weaponry, which clanged against his broad-shoulders and created a few sparks, but ultimately proved fruitless. While the two _Kunoichi_ were still in the air, Eddy grabbed their weaponry, yanking at them. The two girls held fast, and were smashed into the concrete.

"Eddy, look out!" Ed shouted behind him.

Eddy could hear an oncoming KIIAAA! Sound, and turned to see Ju running at him and swinging her Kusarigama chain above her head, the scythe attachment audibly slicing the air.

Eddy clapped his giant metallic hands together, creating a loud metal clang that functioned as a shockwave, blasting Ju off of her feet before the ninjette could even get close.

Roxie jumped on his gleaming shoulders, bludgeoning him with the pommels of her sai. Eddy felt nothing, but heard the clanging noises the kunoichi was making.

However, this proved to be a mere distraction, as Ed yelled, and Eddy looked forward to see Moka and Neko running towards him. Moka body-slammed him in the chest, while Neko used her Naginata's pole to sweep at his ankles. This combined move proved effective, and while the golden giant wasn't injured, he did topple over, landing on his back with a clang.

Never mind the Gōremu!" Roxie shouted to her three companions. "Attack the Chōrikigu instead!"

Ed yelped as all weaponry turned on him. Ju's Kusarigama chain wrapped around his ankle, and dragged him into the dust cloud.

"EDDY! HELP ME!" Ed shouted through the dust as Eddy heard more metallic swishes.

"ED! I'm coming!" Eddy shouted, as he stood up as quick as he could. The dust was swirling and thickening before very eyes, and all he could do was punch blindly at the cloud.

_'Alright, c'mon McGee, think! What would Double-D do?'_ Eddy thought to himself.

In a stoke of enginuity, Eddy jumped into the air, and landed with a stomp. A rippling force was blasted from all sides, blowing away the smoke and dust and exposing the ninjettes, who were all about to cut Ed's head off.

Eddy shouted as he barrelled towards the ninjettes, his heavy stomps shaking the ground and leaving deep footprints in the concrete. He collided with Moka, throwing his shoulder into her stomach and sending her flying. Eddy tehn swung his trunk-like arms into Neko, almost crushing the littlest ninja as Neko was send flying, grinding against the rubble until she stopped.

Ju shrieked as he attempted to spear Eddy, blindly believing she could harm into. The spear tip shattered on contact with Eddy's metal skin, and Eddy slugged her in the face, sending her flying.

Much to Eddy's shock, before his brain could register anything, a pair of Sai trapped his wrists to the floor, and Roxie was on top of him, kicking him in the bag of the head and began to shout at her compatriots.

"Never mind the monster. We're running out of time. Get what we came for and retreat!" Roxie shouted. Moka, Neko and Ju all nodded and jumped up the nearest wall. Roxie quickly followed them, leaving Ed slightly beaten and Eddy unable to move properly.

* * *

"Ed..." Eddy grunted as he tried desperately to shimmy himself into a position in which he had more purchase. "You alright buddy?"

Ed coughed and held his stomach, where the ninjette's had walloped him.

"I'll live." He said.

"Good..." Eddy grunted. "Iron OUT!" He shouted.

Eddy shrank back down to normal size, the metal almost dissolving around his skin Back in human form, Eddy was able to slip his wrists out of the sai with ease. He cricked his neck to both sides, creating an audible crunch.

"Damn, that felt good." Eddy said, rubbing his neck. "Who the hell were those chicks?"

Ed stood up, still rubbing his sore spots.

"I dunno Eddy, they looked like ninja's to me..." Ed pondered out loud.

"Yeah, but what the heck would Ninja's be doing in Peach Creek?" Eddy wondered. He rubbed his head and tried to think, but nothing came to mind. "Gah, we need Double-D for this sort of thing!"

"They said something about getting what they came for, and they seemed pretty fixated on making sure there were no witnesses." Ed said out loud, scratching his chin.

"I say we follow 'em." Eddy said, getting up and digging into his pockets for his car-keys. "They're heading to the meat-packing district."

"Huh? But mom says that all the poofs live in Greece?" Ed said in puzzlement.

"What? No, Ed! I mean there heading to the slaughterhouses." Eddy said as he climbed into his hatchback. Ed got into the passenger seat.

"Let's follow 'em."

* * *

The ninjette's leapt over buildings and various other obstacles, with amazing speed and agility, traits they had worked their whole lives to attain.

Roxie, however, was distracted. She was honour-bound by her clan to do as her master had wished, but she was afraid. She had seen a monster today. A monster with golden skin, with enough power to crack the earth beneath his feet and failed to even notice their weaponry.

And that other one, with the red hair. Did he make the monster? Did he control it? Or was he something even scarier?

If her task tonight meant she had to deal with yokai, then she feared for her very life.

"Hey, Roxie." Moka shouted from behind. "They're following us!"

"What! Impossible!" Roxie snapped, and looked backwards to see a canary yellow hatchback in hot pursuit

"We're getting close to the target!" Neko purred as she ran on all fours over the rooftops.

"I say we keep running for it. Our window of opportunity is closing." Moka grunted as she picked up more and Ju nodded in agreement and increased speed. But Roxie couldn't help but look back. Roxie saw the car speed up after them, and to her amazement, saw the door fly open, and neither the monster, nor the ginger man got out of the car.

* * *

"Ed, take the wheel!" Eddy shouted as he grabbed Ed's hands and forced them onto the wheel.

"WHAT!" Ed yelped as he leaned over and held onto the wheel as Eddy let go of it. "What in god's name are you doing?"

"Ed, when I say 'now', I want you to slam the breaks!" Eddy shouted as he opened the door, letting the wind rush into the car and the allowing the gale to drown out his voice.

Ed thought Eddy had lost his mind as Eddy climbed out of the open door and stood on the roof of the speeding hatchback.

Eddy struggled to stay balanced on the hatchback roof. He could see the ninjette's hopping from roof to roof, heading for the slaughterhouse. But, what he did notice was that they were very close.]

"NOW, ED!"

Ed slammed the breaks, causing the hatchback to abruptly halt, sending Eddy flying.

**"IRON** _**UP** _ **!"**

* * *

 

_"WHAT THE...?"_

Roxie could only watch in amazement as the yellow hatchback halted, and the short little man was send flying towards them.

Then he stopped being little.

He grew, and expanded, his muscles rippled and surged, and his skin stiffened and began to glitter, like gold. And then it shouted.

"RAAR!"

It's him! He was the goddamn monster!

Roxie stopped in her tracks, not wanting to be tackled by the golden monstrosity.

The golden man sailed past her, and crash-landed into the rooftop, smashing a large hole in the roof and sailing down through to the floor.

The three other Ninjette's looked back at Roxie, than at the large hole.

"What the...?" Was all Moka could say.

There was a sort of groaning noise and a metallic clang, and suddenly the roof began to collapse.

"Quickly!" Roxie snapped as she and the other three ninjette's made a mad dash towards the slaughterhouse.

"We're being followed!" Moka yelled. Neko rolled her eyes as she too ran on all fours.

"No shit!" Neko meowed as her head nodded to the falling building behind them. Eddy was evidently in hot pursuit beneath them, the concrete walls and steel beams not even slowing him down.

"I meant that!" Moka snapped. Moka pointed down and the three other Ninjette's saw a canary yellow hatchback in hot pursuit.

"Just who are these guys?" Neko hissed.

**CCCRRRAAASSSHHH!**

Neko shrieked in a very catlike manner as Eddy's golden form burst through the roof they were standing on, grabbing Ju in his giant clumsy fist.

"Keep running! I see the target!" Roxie shouted over Ju's shrieks and Eddy's earth shattering footsteps.

The three Ninjette's jumped off the building and onto the road, landing in front of the hatchback. Landing gracefully, Moka turned around a bodyslammed the hood of the car, crumpling it.

"MY CAR!" Eddy yelled. "MY DAD'S GONNA KILL ME!"

In rage, Eddy chucked Ju at the offending ninjette and Moka.

Ju collided with Moka, knocking the two ninjetes out of commission. Ed started the hatchback up again, steering his way past the collapsed _Kunoichi._

_Roxie and Neko kept running, with Eddy in hot pursuit. Then the slaughterhouse came into view._

_"_ _We're almost there!" Neko said as Roxie reached into her tunic and pulled out three metal spheres._

_"_ _SMOKE BOMB!" Roxie shouted as she threw the smoke bombs into Quarterback's mighty chest, creating a shroud of thick, smelly smoke._

_Eddy stumbled backwards, wafting his giant hand in front of his face to try and clear the smoke. Unfortunatly, the golden behemoth took one step to many and his foot stompedits way through the ceiling corner, causing him to fall off the building, creating a Quarterback shaped hole in the pavement._

_Ed pulled up the slightly damaged hatchback and got out, peering down the Eddy-shaped hole._

_"_ _Oh my god, Eddy, what the smeg happened?" Ed asked, reaching into the hole and grabbing Eddy's hand. Ed heaved and heaved, and with Eddy's help he managed to pull the golden giant out of the crevice._

_"_ _Aw, man, they got away." Eddy huffed in a bad mood. "That really blows, man!"_

_"_ _Hey, we got two of 'em. I'm sure we can still get answers." Ed reassured._

_Eddy sighed, and muttered "Iron Out", as he allowed his metal form to evaporate._

_"So," Eddy sighed with a breathe. "Where are the two captives?"_

_Ed froze. He had forgotten to secure them._

_"KKKYYYYAAAA!"_

_Ju's shriek alerted Ed and Eddy, the former of which turned just in time for Moka to body slam him into the pavement. Ju took advantage of Eddy's fleshy form and tried to spear him with her Naginata._

_Eddy rolled out of the way, and swepted at Ju's feet in a break dancer-ish fashion. Eddy's chuck tailors kicked Ju in the ankles, causing the lanky girl to stumble._

_Meanwhile, Ed was having a grapple fight with Moka, Ed repeatedly striking his opponent in the stomach, but Moka's fat only served to weaken his blows. Moka growled as she continued to grapple, making sure to grab and tear at Ed's chest._

_"You've got lots of aggression," Ed commented as he allowed Moka to get a grip on him, before swivelling and locking her arms over his shoulder._

_"But your technique is sloppy!"_

_And with that Ed tossed Moka over his shoulder, using her weight and his strength to pull off a near perfect IpponSianagi._

_Moka landed on her back with a thud, and Ed went down after her, locking her into a KesaKatami._

_Eddy took note of Ed's method, and as Ju fell to the floor, he kicked her Naginata pole right out of her hands, and knelt down on her stomach. Ju continued to struggle._

_"_ _I wouldn't do that, if I were you. I could change into the big guy, and lemme tell you, he's heavy."_

_Ju ceased struggling._

_"_ _Now..." Eddy said, putting his hand on Ju's forehead, pinning it to the pavement._

_"_ _Where are the other two going?" Ed demanded. "Why are you so keen to eliminate any witnesses?"_

_And with that, Ed gently placed the sole of his shoe on Ju's cheek._

Roxie and Neko landed outside the slaughterhouse, with a blue truck was waiting for them. The driver, a dirty blonde man with glasses and a small goatee, barely 23 stepped out.

"Are you two my contact?" He asked, taking off his gloves. He looked at the bladed weaponry, and he panicked, putting up his fists.

"I don't want any trouble okay!" He snapped, as Roxie and Neko dropped their weapons. "I'm just like the boss. Y-you have no idea what I can d-do...!" He stuttered in fear.

"We're you contact." Roxie said. She'd already fought one monster tonight. She wasn't taking any chances. "We don't want any trouble."

She kicked over her Sai to the man's feet, and motioned for Neko to do the same. Neko did not.

The man squeezed his fist, making some blue sparks dance around his fist. Roxie stepped backwards, as did Neko.

"Okay then," He said, keeping his fist in front of him. "The crates are in the back, each device has been hand made by me personally. Now, tell the boss, I've done my bit. I'm out."

The man turned and stared at a nearby fusebox. His body crackled with lightning.

"Wait," Roxie said, stepping forward. "Before you go, what's the boss got on you?"

The man did't turn around, but Roxie could see him stare at his feet and sigh.

"It's my mum. They said if I made these things, they'd pay her enough to pay off her mortgage. Then maybe she can get to sleep at night." He said. He turned slightly, to look Roxie in the eyes.

"You?" He asked.

"It's our village. They said if we worked for them, the rest of our village gets to stay where they are."

"Well, more power to you then." The man said.

"Thank you," Roxie said. "And...I'm sorry about your mother, mr...?"

The man turned around, looking her in the eye. He had sad eyes, like he knew he did something wrong. Sad, golden eyes.

"Hector. My name is Hector."

And with that, he transformed into electricity, and shot into the fusebox, punching through the metal casing and travelling down the wires. Roxie looked at the light travelling down the wire and into the ground.

"Come on," Neko meowed. "Let's get the truck to where it needs to be."

Roxie nodded and the two got into the truck. Roxie hit the gas and the truck's headlights sprang to life, and the truck pulled away from the slaughterhouse.

Roxie and Neko sped down the high street in the truck, the cargo rattling in the back. Roxie turned the car to the nearest roundabout, going back down the street they came.

"Why are we going back there?" Neko asked, as she gribbed at her seat, startled at the speed Roxie was driving at.

"We have to get Moka and Ju back." Was all Roxie said, not taking her eyes off of the road.

"But…"

"I know that the monster has them. But we're ninjas. We don't leave our clan behind."

Neko huffed. "Yeah, but how will we know that they're still where e left em. That monster's probably taken them… _god knows where_."

"Even so, we have to find them. Our clan looks out for eachother." Was Roxie's reply.

Neko rolled her eyes. She would rather go back to boss. But, Roxie was right. The never left a man behind.

"So, where do you think they are?" Neko asked. "They could be anywhere in the city?"

Roxie nodded, but then her eyes went wide and her jaw hung open.

At the end of the road, standing atop the crumpled hood of a canary yellow hatchback, stood two figures, one tall and one small, each with a Kunoichi under their feet. Roxie remembered the small one. He was the monster.

Roxie hit the breaks. She left the lights on, allowing the truck to seemingly stare down the two.

"Alright!" Roxie heard the small one shout. "We have your allies. I demand you surrender the collars!"

"What?" Roxie repeated from inside the cab. "What are they talking about."

"I think…I think they mean the goods inside the truck?" Neko meowed. "Only Ju knew the full details. But she's so tight lipped, they couldn't possibly make her talk!"

Roxie turned off the ignition, and stepped out of the truck's cab. She unsheathed her Sai, and pointed at Eddy.

"First, I want you to BACK OFF!" She demanded. "I'll have none of your tricks."

Roxie then began to talk, a relatively unreadable tangent, hopping from topic-to-topic. This kept Ed and Eddy occupied, while Neko slung off to the back off the truck, and popped the top off of one of the crates. Metal collars, hundreds of them, were inside, each individually sealed inside a plastic, airtight wrap. Neko purred smugly, as her cleft lip formed a cat-like smile. She picked up a collar with her left hand, and flicked her fingers on her right hand, showing incredibly sharp nails.

With her cat-like claws, she cut open the collar's packaging.

* * *

 

"ENOUGH!" Eddy shouted. "Hand over the truck! We know what those things do, and we can't let you have them."

Roxie held up her sai defensively. "Well I can't let you take them!"

Eddy looked at Ed, and they both grinned and nodded.

"Iron UP!" Eddy shouted. However, rather than turning into his invincible behemoth form, red electricity crackled around his diminutive form, causing Eddy to howl in pain, as he fell off the car bonnet, releasing Moka from her entrapment.

The beaten Ninjette hopped up from where she was laid down, and instantly head-butted Ed, knocking him off Ju. Ju got up and Moka body-slammed the Car's already broken bonnet. The car spluttered and banged, creating a cloud of smoke. The ninjette's were back in their element.

* * *

 

Ju made a decisive sweep, and through the fog, managed to kick Eddy in the face. Eddy skidded across the ground and collided with Ed in a painful collision.

Ed rubbed his head and tried to wave the smoke out of his head.

"Eddy, why can't you iron up? What's wrong?" Ed asked frantically, hearing the swishes in the smoke, meaning the Ninjette's were circling them, like hungry sharks.

"I've changed to often, too quickly. I don't know how long I have to rest for." Eddy said, gripping his chest, trying to cope with the new found ache. The swishing sound grew louder, and Roxie appeared out of nowhere, swinging the pommel of her Sai at Ed's head. Ed tucked and did a crocodile roll between her spread legs, unfurling to give her a kick in the privates.

Roxie shrieked in pain, and nearly collapsed as her knees buckled. Ed continued to roll until he unfurled, landing on his back, out of breathe.

Ed heard a shout, and out of the smoke, Moka came barrelling towards him from above, intent on performing another body slam.

Ed barely rolled out of the way, letting Moka hit the pavement. The sumo girl smashed into the concrete, creating a small crater.

"Hey, Moka, Ju!" Came a meow from above. It was Neko, sitting atop a street lamp, holding Moka's swords and Ju's polearm. She tossed each weapon at her companions feet. Ed tried to run back to Eddy, who was defenceless in his present state.

There was a metallic swish behind him and Ed grunted in pain and shock as claws dug into his back and a weight appeared on his shoulders. Neko was literally on top of him.

"Now, let's see what you can do, freak!" Neko purred as she clamped the collar around Ed's neck. Ed choked at the tightness of the collar, and tried to pry it off. Neko purred smugly, and kicked herself off of Ed's back, pushing him to the floor and herself into the air, doing a somersault and landing cleanly on a nearly lamppost. She smiled, her cleft-lip again resembling that of a cat.

She reached between her breasts, and pulled out a remote control, not unlike the one Ed had seen the Liverpudlian use.

"Now, Mr. Monster, let's see what party trick you can do?" Neko purred as she began to mash the buttons.

Ed just stood there, with a very annoyed look in his eyes. Neko's jaw dropped. How was Ed immune to the collar. The instructions on the packet said they worked on people with superpowers. 100% of the time.

"What the...!" Neko spluttered. "Why isn't it working?"

Ed continued trying to pry the metal collar off of his neck, and with a grunt and a yank of his unnatural strength, Ed ripped the metal in twain, removing the collar from his neck. His eyes had changed. He was no longer sweet, lovably thick Ed. He had Ed-Rage.

Neko hissed as Ed roared and barrelled towards the lamppost she was sitting on top of. Ed grabbed the metal pole with both hands, and pulled and pulled. Slowly but surely, the metal pole began to bend. Neko's eyes went as wide as dinner plates as she felt the lamppost bend and buckle. She jumped off it as Ed succeeded in ripping it from its foundation.

As Neko was in midair, Ed swatted her into a nearby wall with the lamppost he had just uprooted. He grinned, and looked into the smoke. He dropped the post as he realised he had forgot something of vital importance.

Eddy.

Ed jolted back into the smoke, waving his hands around his face in a futile attempt to clear it. He could clearly hear the metallic swishes. The three ninjas that he had ignored while he tussled with the catty one were moving in for the kill.

"Eddy!" Ed shouted over the car's rattle, and the metallic swishes. "Eddy, where are you!"

"…Ed…"

The weakened cry came from somewhere in the smokescreen, almost drowned out by the metallic swishes and the rattling car. Ed ran around blindly, trying to locate Eddy, until he hit something with a clang. A heavy, hot metal wall collided with his stomach, making him fall to the floor. It was the Hatchback.

Rattling around and spewing it's hot, smelly ashes, Ed was overcome by rage once more. Roaring, he gripped underneath the car. With a grunt and tremendous heave, Ed began to drag the car as he twisted on his heels. Round and round in a circle, Ed standing in the epicentre, the car becoming easier to move as Ed pickled up speed. He spun around rapidly, the hatchback lifting off the ground, higher and higher, and finally with a shout Ed let go, hurling the hatchback and the smokescreen futher down the street.

The smoke cleared, and Eddy's weakened body was on the floor, surrounded by three Ninjette's, all brandishing their weaponry.

Ed roared as the Ed-Rage overtook him, turning his skin brick red and steam exuding from his pores. The ninjette's looked at this and screamed. The Rage, a chi attack that ninjitsu masters trained their whole lives to maintain for a few seconds at a time.

Moka, headstrong as she was, roared and switched targets, swapping from the defenceless Eddy to the rage-empowered Ed. Waving her twin swords, Moka swung, slashing Ed up the arm, leaving a wound that would definitely need stitches later. But the rage-empowered Ed took no notice, as he punched Moka in the stomach, with a force so powerful it left a shockwave as Moka was send flying with the force of a cannonball.

Ju screeched as she swung her polearm and Ed, who jumped and landed a stomp-kick on the pole, snapping it in half, before roundhousing Ju in the stomach, stomping her into the ground.

The steam and red colouring faded, and Roxie took this opportunity. She brandished her sais, screaming as she ran towards him. Ed ducked, as Roxie swung her truncheons over his head. Ed grabbed her wrists as she swung, ripping the Sais from her hands. Roxie gasped, as Ed swung the pommel down on her head.

**_CRACK_ **

The pommel pounded Roxie's skull. A sicken crack echoed over the alleyway, as she collapsed on the pavement, trembling and gasping as a little blood dribbled out of her wound.

Ed panted, as the adrenaline wore off. He was too tired to notice a bruised and beaten Moka and Ju sneaking up behind him. But Eddy noticed. Painfully, he moved his fatigued body, crawling along the pavement until he forced himself to stand. With a paied grunt, he sped up, heading behind Moka and Ju.

"Iron up."

With a pained cry, red electricity crackled around his body. But Eddy endured, as his frame expanded and his skin solidified. He transformed despite crippling pain, and as the lumbering behemoth, he grabbed Moka and Ju's heads in his huge hands and clanged their heads together, knocking them out.

"Ed," Eddy coughed, as he dropped to one knee. "What you did was pretty cool. But, you totally wrecked my ride. I'm gonna have to kill ya."

Ed was also panting, hands on his knees, seemingly oblivious to the fact he ad just brained somebody, but maybe that would catch up with him later.

* * *

 

"Right, let's go get that truck. We can't let those collars fall into the wrong hands, and we've got questions that need to be answered." Eddy said, as he struggled to pull himself up. His strength was now gone, and he was too weak to change back, leaving him weighed down by his metallic bulk.

"Right," Ed agreed. The two slowly hobbled towards the truck, containing countless crates of collars, which were meant for god-knows-how-many god-knows-whats.

The suddenly the headlights turned on, and the engine revved. Eddy, who had much better night-vision than Ed, saw that a bruised and battered Neko was behind the wheel, looking crazed.

Neko gunned the motor, and sped down the alleyway.

There was a metallic swish behind them, as Ed and Quarterback felt chains wrap around their ankles. Ju's trademark "KYYYYYAAAAAA!" was heard in the background, and their chains were yanked backwards to the ground.

The truck continued, obviously intent on running them over. Eddy shoved Ed with his metallic arm, rolling the ginger boy to the right and eventually onto the sidewalk.

Eddy rolled to his left, but the tires rolled over his ankle as he escaped, allowing a single crate to fall off the back.

Moka and Ju, previously thought to be incapacitated, shot up from their spots on the road and jumped on top of the truck as it sped down the road.

"Damn, on the one night Double-D takes a break, we need to chase somebody." Eddy wheezed.

Eddy tried to move after them, but his tired, pained body could only manage a slow, clumsy stumble.

Ed put his hand on Eddy's side, gently forcing his tired and injured friend to stop.

"Eddy, I think we should our cut our loses. I mean look, we've been smacked up and down tonight, but we've got a crate of these Collars for Double-D to look at, and besides…I bet she could answer some questions."

Ed pointed at the unconscious Roxie, who was left behind by her three companions.

Eddy lumbered over and picked her up with one hand, slinging her over his shoulder. He then slowly walked over to the crate and hoisted that on his shoulder. Eddy and Ed coughed; they were battered, tired and hungry. But they had more questioned, and an even bigger mystery in front of them.

But, they just walked home, completely unfazed one of them was a giant metal man with an unconscious ninja over his shoulder.

"Hey Ed."

"Yeah?"

"You know that thing Double-D does, y'know, when he wiggles his fingers."

"Y'mean like that time he put a banana in his hand and made a smoothie?"

"Yeah that. Well, d'ya thing he could ue that to get the dents out of my car?"

"…"

"Ed?"

"Yes. I think he could."

* * *

 

Moka, Neko and Ju knealt on one knee, in a dark room, with four staticy, low resolution television screens, covering each wall.

"You've done well. We've received your delivery…with almost no problems."

**"There were witnesses! You tore up a whole damned street!"**

_"And you lost a box! God knows who found it. We have enemies, ladies. Those who wouldn't take to kindly to our operation."_

**_"Oh please David. Can I kill them? They deserve to be punished."_ **

"Not yet, young Carpenter. Let them…prove their worth. I'll spare their village, for now. But remember girls. We treat those on our payroll very nicely. But fail me again…and then yes, young Carpenter. You may kill them."

Neko, Moka and Ju cowered at the sight of the screens.

**"But in the mean time ladies…"**

Moka walked back slightly, only to bump into an insanely tall man, covered in black garb.

**"You can explain to young Frag what's happened to his sister..."**


	3. What I'm Made Of, Pt. 1

**Red Lightning: The Gods are Amongst Us  
S1E3: What I'm Made Of pt. 1: My Name is Flashpoint**

_My life changed when a storm, full of red lightning, split the sky in half as it struck the ground._

_My friend Double-D was given super speed. He's all good and justice and stuff, but he's a good guy to have in a fist-fight now. He calls himself Flashpoint now._

_As for me, I'm a giant, metal man. Half the time, anyway. I'm untouchable, stronger than anything, and all it takes are some magic words. Who am I? I'm Quarterback!_

-Eddy McGee

* * *

_Somewhere in New York..._

**"Help! Someone please! Help."**

A black van chased a poor young lady down an abandoned alleyway. The headlines were shining brightly and the engine revved menacingly. Out of the window were two African American youths, holding guns.

She was backed into the dead end. The van stopped and all five gang members hopped out, two blacks, one Chinese, one Latino & one white. Each toted a knife.

"No place to run lady." The Chinese one said.

The women screamed, but as she cowered and screwed her eyes shut, she heard a swishing sound, like a gust of wind in a small space. She also heard screams, lots of them, and splattering sounds.

She opened her eyes an inch, and saw four of the gangbangers dead, merely great bloody smudges on the floor and walls. On top of the van, which had been sliced open, was a man in a white, black and red wetsuit, with a christen cross adorned across the back. He was a large guy, fairly young, wearing a Stetson hat and holding up the white gangbanger by the throat.

"Tell ze other scum what you saw." The man said in a German accent. He squeezed the young thug's neck, before throwing him off the chunk of van and to the floor. The youth ran off into the street without a second thought.

The women blinked, and the young man in the wetsuit turned to her. He saluted, before vanishing from her very eyes. Leaving only a blur, that slowly vanished.

* * *

Double-D was sitting at his desk in his room. It was dark outside, and he had the house to himself. His father was away, fighting in some-military. His mother, on the other hand, was in America, attending some dietician convention or something.

He was picking apart the collar with absolute precision. His brain was in absolute puzzlement. The metal casing had circuitry in them, and most of the circuitry was a dummy, not connected to anything and serving no purpose.

"Oh, this is infuriating! I cannot wrap my head around this tech. It boggles the mind."

Double-D sighed. He carefully placed the remaining components into the jar he kept them.

"I need to go for a run, and clear my head." Double-D sighed to himself.

He looked over to his wardrobe. It was shut tightly, like always, but he knew what was inside. The second skin he had come to wear. A new identity, as means to both conceal and empower himself. When he was Flashpoint, everything was forgotten. Flashpoint didn't have a house full of sticky notes. He didn't have suspicious teachers accusing him of cheating, or a fear of the dark with no parents down the hall to make it better. He had freedom.

It took Double-D five seconds to change into the costume. Now he could let loose. He was a different man now. A man who lacked everything Double-D was shackled with. Double-D was in his second skin. Time to let loose. Time to run.

* * *

Double-D loved working with Eddy and Ed, but sometimes, it was frustrating. They were slow, and Double-D had to wait for them constantly. They couldn't provide that rush. When he was booking down the road like a bat out of hell...it was immense, the thrill was incredible. The others, his friends...they weren't fast enough. Nobody was.

Double-D zoomed down the road. It was a Japanese drift racing track in down-town Tokyo, full of interesting twists and turns and jumps. It was also currently in use.

Double-D flipped and jumped, dodging the blurry neon lights of the drifting cars. He merged with the blurs, weaving in and out of the cars, as they stood static in his vision. He jumped, landing on top of an orange Draga, as it slowly glided on the dirt, andhe front flipped off of the car, landing a on a neon white Carnifex Import, and running down its front and touching the road, outrunning the car with was such fun.

"One more lap." Double-D thought. "Then home."

Double-D stopped, becoming visible to the naked eye. He waited for the cars to catch him up, so he could once again run rings around them.

However, they didn't catch him up. Double-D heard the engine revs in the distance, and excited whoops and chatter. But what made his heart jump was gunfire, and the flashes of bullets spraying into the air out of their gun barrels.

Double-D gave chase.

* * *

It was worse than he thought.

These drift racers, they were hooligans, terrorising the downtown metro-area. Double-D zoomed in, eyes targeting the orange draga. He rammed into it with his shoulder, his enhanced strength shoving it off road onto the pavement, grinding it against the buildings.

The car responded by jerking back into Double-D, launching him off the ground and colliding with a lamppost. He collided back-first and tore through it, ripping it from its foundation and careening through the air, before slamming face-first into a building.

The cars just kept going, the drivers indifferent to the -D recovered and shook himself, shrugging off the pulverising he took.

He blurred out, blurring in and reappearing over the neon white Apex Import. He dropped, slamming his fist into the roof. He dented it sufficiently, but the driver inside was startled, and the car breaked suddenly. Double-D was jerked off the roof, crashing into the pavement, where his hammer-like body tore up the asphalt. He rolled, and stabilized himself on his knees.

He took off again, ready to ram the car again.

However, as the world slowed down, there was something in the corner of Double-D's eyes, which quickly came into focus.

It was someone in a wetsuit, like his, only instead of Green and Black it was Red, White and Black. Instead of dancing lightning bolts and arrows, it had a large christen cross across the front and back. Unlike the rest of the frozen world, he was moving normal.

As if he was moving as fast as Double-D.

The other speedster didn't notice Double-D, or if he did, then he decided Double-D was irrelevant. The other speedster ran into the purple hot-rod, and put his hands under the chassis. With a grunt, he lifted, and tossed the car into the air, setting it flying.

Double-D heard the screams of the driver inside, and the good guy inside him urged him to run forward. He did so, blurring outside the door and ripping it off the hinges. He yanked out the driver by his shirt scruff and tossed him to the road as the car landed, bouncing on the ground and crumpling, tearing up the roads.

Double-D was inside the car, only surviving thanks to his inherent toughness. Squashed inside a crumpled car with no real exits, he began to vibrate himself. Faster and faster, until his body had a bright white glow. He concentrated on this glow, allowing himself to harmlessly fall through the ruined chassis, and onto the road.

Apparently the other speedster was very efficient, because before his very eyes Double-D bore witness to a black, red and white blur that tore through the drifting cars like tissue, the orange draga was flipped on its roof, the driver screaming inside before the car ignited, exploding.

There was one car left, and the other speedster was staring it down. The car's engine revved and the car zoomed forward, ready to rundown the brutal speedster. The car zoomed forward, and the violent speedster stuck his arms out, and the car bumper collided with his hands.

Double-D could only watch as the new speedster picked up the car with his bare hands, andspun around on his heels. The speedster spun around and around, creating a colourful hurricane, before finally letting go and sending the car flying into a building. The car crashed through the skyscraper's foundation, killing the driver and causing the tall tower to topple.

Civilians were still running, as buildings crashed into each other like dominoes, fires started, but amongst the chaos and destruction, Double-D stood in awe at the dark speedster. He had single handedly dispatched a group of hoodlums, without as much as a flinch, and without a scratch on him.

"You street scum have outstayed your velcome!" The new speedster shouted. He noticed one of the drift racing punks had escaped from his damaged vehicle and was running across the street.

"YOU!" The new speedster shouted, before blurring in front of the young Japanese man and lifting him up by the scruff of his shirt.

"You vill pay for ze destruction you caused!" He spat, as the punk cowered. "And I vill teach you to run!"

The red speedster spun like a dervish, before throwing the punk over his shoulder. The punk landed in a car with a smash, injuring him, but he was clearly alive.

The new speedster cricked his neck to one side, making an audible crackle. His work was done. And with that, he turned around and sped off.

"WAIT!" Double-D shouted as he watched him speed off. Double-D zoomed after him, following the red, black and white zoom trail. "I need to talk to you."

Double-D caught up with him, running alongside him as the two moved through what would be known to speedsters as _, the slo-mo-verse_.

"I need to speak with you!" Double-D shouted over the enormous swishing sound as the two ran over the ocean.

_"Vas ist das!"_ The other speedster said in shocked. The other speedster stopped in his tracks, vanishing from the slo-mo-verse. Double-D did a u-turn and ran back to him.

The two stood opposite each other on the Dutch plains. There wasn't a soul inside, with only the windmills watching them.

The other speedster adopted a fighting stance that Double-D recognised as karate.

"Who are you?"He demanded.

"My name's Flashpoint. I've got super-speed. Just like you." Edd smiled. To prove his point he blurred out, and then reappeared over by a windmill.

Before he could say anything, his fellow speedster slammed into him, and had side-kicked him in the chest, with so much force that it tore up some of the ground as Double-D was launched away.

The other speedster blurred out and caught Double-D in mid-air, gripping the lightning patterned wetsuit.

The other speedster roared as he shoved Double-D through the walls of the many windmills dotting the landscape.

He suddenly halted, the force blowing Double-D out of his hands and ploughing through the ground. After bouncing a few times and creating a significantly large trench, Double-D pulled himself up, slightly trembling from the beating he just took.

Before he could stand up straight, the other speedster grabbed him by the front.

**"WHO SEND YOU?"** He demanded forcefully. **"How many others are zhere?"**

To say Double-D was dazed would be an understatement. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the persistent ringing in his ears.

"Wha-?"

"WHO ARE YOU!" The German demanded.

"My-my name is Flashpoint. There was a freak lightning storm in Peach Creek, and me and my friends got hit."

"You vere in Peach Creek as vell, mein kinder?" The German said, gently setting Double-D on the ground, but still holding onto his front. Double-D managed to get a good look at him. He had to be at least 15 years Double-D's elder. He looked very youthful, but also had the most hateful eyes Double-D had ever known. He had short burnt blonde hair, with stubble on his chin. His muscles were bulkier than average, and didn't look natural, as if he'd look normal without them.

"Yes, I was present when the Storm Struck. So far I have found very few people...like me. You're the only one who can do exactly what I can do?"

"Hmm, I zee. I have long suspected zhat zhere vhere others like me. You see, I vas still in Peach Creek when I began my assault on crime. In one of the gang violences I encountered, there vas a young Negro. He vas...strange. He had the ability to command fire, as if he wielded fire like a weapon. I decided he had to be dealt with...swiftly." The older speedster grimaced.

Double-D gulped and inched backwards. In their short career, he and Eddy had already faced off against gangs and roving youths. Recently more strange characters were coming out of the woodwork. Like those three hooligans, and his classmate, Kevin.

The older speedster noticed Double-D's actions, and chuckled.

"I see somezhing in your eyes, mein kinder. You fight crime also, yah? Or do you vhere zhis garesh attire as some kind ov...sexual thrill?"

Double-D blushed instantly. That was not the reason at all, but it was enough to catch him off balence.

"No, no...I fight crime, with my partner."

"Zhis partner...he is...like you, no?"

"Do you mean if he's like us, or if he like us?"

The older speedster chuckled. He had a hearty belly laugh, and seemed to be very charismatic. He whiped his eyes with a gloved hand and removed his hat.

"From your reaction, I am to believe he lacks our speed?" He asked.

"Yes, I have super-speed, my friend has super-strength." Double-D answered. He was very careful not to use any real names, nor did he dare to remove his helmet. Just in case this man was not to be trusted.

"I see. By the way you say super-strength, does zhis mean you cannot do zhis?"

After he said that, the adult speedster dug his hands into the earth, and with a mighty grunt, he yanked a gigantic boulder of earth from the ground. With incredible strength, he balanced the giant dirt-sphere on one hand, before shot-putting it into the air with another grunt.

The elder speedster looked at Double-D, turning smug upon seeing the awe on Double-D's face.

"So, I take it Super-Strength is not in your arsenal, mein kinder?"

Double-D was still awed, but quickly shook his head and snapped out of it.

"No, I'm not that strong. But can you do this?"

Double-D turned around and began to spin his arms, as if to create a mini-turbine. From his arms a large wind-tunnel was created, the sideways tornado ripping apart the earth before colliding with a far-off windmill, shattering it.

"Guten Himmel!" The elder gasped as he stood in awe. He stuck out his own arm, and spun it. It whipped up a mini-cyclone around his arm, but the german-accented man was unable to conjure the same violent windstorms that Double D was capable of.

He stared at his arm, before breaking into another chuckle. He put his hand on Double-D's shoulder.

"Vell, it seems God has a funny way of compensating. But no matter. I am quite fond of my strength, so if that means I cannot learn some ov the more...refined techniques, zhen so be it."

Double-D was quite shaken by this man's sudden contact. He just seemed so jovial, but there was just something...off about him.

"Now it's my turn to ask the questions." Double-D demanded. "What's your name?"

Double-D removed the elder speedster's hand from his shoulder. This caused the older man to put his hand on his hip, and remove his stetson hat. He had thin, grey hair. Without it Double-D could really see the features on his face. He was chiselled, but at the same time, had older features. If Double-D were to make a rough estimate, he was pushing forty.

"You vish to know my name. My given name...or my _REAL_ name?"

"Arn't they synonymous?" Double-D replied.

"No, mein kinder. When I was born mein mutter called me Wilde Rennt, but my real name...is _Racer_."

Double-D was awed by the way this man spoke. It brought back memories of before he decided to go out tonight. He unknowingly placed a hand on his mask. Was it mask, or was it his real face? Was Flashpoint his real self. Who he was, and who he wanted to be?

"My name..." Double-D began, allowing his mask to cast a shadow over the rest of his face. "Is Flashpoint!"

* * *

**_[Preview for Part 2]_ **

_Double-D was frantic. Two super villains on both sides and his stomach cried out for nourishment. He felt his speed began to fizzle out. His vision was blurred, and his lip was cut. His blood tasted of copper, as it dripped down his face._

_Suddenly he felt two arms wrapped themselves around his neck their rubbery flexibility forming a makeshift noose._

_"Hey honey-bunny." Leather-Girl purred as she rubbed her cheek against his as Double-D gasped for air._

_"Not so much of a good-boy now, are you?" She sneered._

 


	4. What I'm Made Of, Pt. 2

**Red Lightning: The Gods are Amongst Us  
** **S1E4: What I'm Made Of pt. 2: My Name is Edd**

_My life changed when a storm, full of red lightning, split the sky in half as it struck the ground._

_My friend Double-D was given super speed. He's all good and justice and stuff, but he's a good guy to have in a fist-fight now. He calls himself Flashpoint now._

_As for me, I'm a giant, metal man. Half the time, anyway. I'm untouchable, stronger than anything, and all it takes are some magic words. Who am I? I'm Quarterback!_

**-Eddy McGee**

* * *

It was late at night at Peach Creek Highstreet, and most shops had shut for the night.

Mishti Rajput had been testing her powers for a few weeks now. And now she was finally ready to put them to use. She had seen the news, of costumed vigilantes going out every night, beating up thugs.

They had powers too. But Mishti had better things on her mind than "justice".

Her costume was something she had lying around in her closet. It was an old bsdm rubber suit she had. It showed a lot of skin, leaving her exposed to attack, just how she liked it. It was tight, leaving nothing to the imagination. Just how she liked it. Her face was exposed, leaving her bright pink hair free to be shown. The only thing remotely masking her face was a large ball-gag, made of rubber, but with a few holes so she could speak coherently.

Just how she liked it.

She stood between a lamppost and a tree, on the opposite side of the road from the local jewelry store. She gripped the lamppost and the tree and pulled, walking backwards. She winced, as her arms stretched, as if they were rubber. She moaned through her ball-gag, as the pain grew.

She jumped, and her arms instantly snapped back to their natural length, slingshoting her into the air and sailing across the street, crashing through the glass window. The glass shattered as she sailed through it, setting off the alarms. The sharp edges scrapped against her, but to her annoyance, failed to piece her leathery flesh.

Pulling a burlap sack from her belt, she smashed open a glass case with her fist, and began to scoop out all the jewlery, dumping it in the back.

"Ahh...Diamondsh. A girlsh besht fwiendsh." She said, her ball-gag giving her a heavy lisp.

Filling up her sack, she jumped out of the hole in the window and made a break for the street. She looked left, then right. No sign of police-cars, but also no sign of any hunky vigilantes.

"Shuch a shame." Mishti said, as she back to run down the street. "Guessh I'll have to keep twying."

And with that, she ran further into town, intent on continuing her spree.

* * *

Double-D and Racer were running alongside each other. They were going ludicrously fast, having exceeded 900 mph 15 minutes ago. Double-D was doing fine, and yearned to go even faster, but if he didn't know any better, he'd say that Racer was having trouble keeping up.

The two were travelling in the slo-mo verse, travelling across the ocean.

"Where are we going?" Double-D shouted over the winds and spray of the saltwater.

"Ve're going back to Peach Creek. I have my base there, I vish to show you my crime-fighting techniques and equipment!" Racer responded. However, due to his voicing being lower and not as nasally as Double-D's, Racer was more-or-less drowned out by the sea-spray.

"What?" Double-D shouted?

"Zay again?" Was Racer's reply.

The two soon hit the shore at the cliffs of Holland-on-Sea. Double-D reared upwards and without slowing down, ran straight up the vertical edge, stopping at the top.

Double-D quickly noticed Racer was not with him. He looked down to the bottom of the cliff, and saw Racer was having trouble picking up the speed to climb vertical surfaces. Double-D watched as Racer tried a couple more times, before falling down on his back again. With a frustrated roar, Racer plunged his fist into the cliff side, creating a hand-hole. He roared and slugged the wall again, creating another foothold. He climbed, and climbed, continuously pummeling his way through the rock until he was at the top. He gasped in tired fury. The English air was colder, so his breathe could be seen.

"Um," Double-D began. "There were some stairs a little further up the coastline."

Racer regained his posture. With a final huff of air, he shrugged and shook his head.

"No matter. Come, my base is furzher into town center."

And with that, Racer blurred out. Double-D quickly followed, effortlessly catch up to his afterimage. The two ran along side-by-side.

This was what Double-D wanted. Pure, unadulterated speed. Racer understood that rush. Racer could keep up with him. And now Racer was going to show him what he did. How Racer fought crime not just in his hometown, but across the globe as well.

With Racer's help, Double-D thought, maybe Flashpoint could do some real good for England, and maybe the world.

* * *

Racer and Double-D stopped at an old petrol station. It had fallen into slight dis-repair, especially the outside, which had become victim to vandals.

Racer noticed Double-D staring at the graffiti. It showed several anti-black and white-supremacist slogans and remarks.

"My furst act as a hero. That graffiti. I keep it up to remind me vhat I fight for. A cleaner, safer Peach Creek."

Double-D just stared at the hateful remarks. Racer was right. This was what they were supposed to fight for. But at the same time, there was something off about the way Racer said it. His inflection, his tone...it was just...off.

"Kinder!" Racer nudged, getting Double-D's attention. "Come, let me show you, my inner sanctum."

Racer retrieved a key from a pocket his right glove, and unlocked the door of the gas-station, and motioned for Double-D to follow him.

* * *

It was amazing. Inside was a technological paradise. Police scanners, multiple television screens, radars! All of Peach Creek was under surveillance.

Double-D shuttered. This was both monumentally impressive and quite disturbing. That Racer had eyes everywhere. It was kind of scary, knowing one man had this much power.

"How did you get all of this?"

Racer sniffed. "Vhen we are as fast as we are, spare time becomes our most abundant resource. Half of this vas acquired from unworthy policemen in Canterbury, and zhe other half vas built by myself."

Double-D zoomed up to the monitors. Nothing so far.

Double-D and Racer stood in front of the monitors, watching intently.

Racer turned to Double-D, eyebrow raised.

"Vould you like a diet coke?"

Double-D was slightly taken aback by this. He didn't really expect to be offered anything.

"Um, okay, I suppo..."

Double-D was interupted by a flashing red light and a beeping noise.

Racer zoomed in front of him to check the monitors.

"Burglary at the downtown area. Somebody is hitting the Clothing Shop. Zhat coke vill have to vait!"

"They're also a skirmish at the Meat-Packing District. Police have reported several crashes and partially demolished roofs." Double-D noted.

"The downtown area is closer. We can deal vith zhat and move on to the Meat-Packing District aftervards.

"Shall we go?" Double-D asked, already knowing the answer.

Racer put on his stetson hat.

"Ich am right behind you!"

And with that the two zoomed off.

* * *

Double-D quickly gained the lead, with Racer trailing behind them. But Double-D knew this wasn't a race. This was a call for serious action.

But still, deep down, in the pit of his stomach, he was still frightened of Racer. There was something, about the way he spoke, the way he looked, he just seemed to vibrate in a way Double-D didn't like.

The duo stopped outside the clothing outlet, which had a large hole smashed in the glass window at the front. Inside, Double-D saw...a girl.

* * *

Mishti was admiring her loot, rummaging through the racks seeing if there was anything she wanted in particular. She was stealing, so it wasn't as if she had to be choosy, but it was nice to take the time to check if anything was worth having.

"Oh, thish top woulb look lovely on me. Eshpecially on a fwiday night. Ooh, and even more eshpecially with those jeansh.

"Halt!"

Mishti dropped the clothes and spun on her heel to see her would-be assailent. She saw Flashpoint and Racer, and briefly studied their costumes, just to make sure they were the real thing.

Her eyes practically lit up.

"Oh, it ish you! I've been waiting all night long to shee you!"

Double-D was shocked when this strange Indian girl wrapped her arms around him and began to nuzzle him.

"I'm Leather Girl."

Leather Girl then stretched her neck far back and butted Double-D in the face

Double-D's visor partially shattered, leaving a large hole over his right eye. Leather Girl, with the sharp plastic embedded in her forehead, slipped away and tottered backwards, her face positively orgasmic.

Suddenly, Racer cried havoc and at sub-sonic speeds slammed into Leather Girl. She was tossed into the nearest wall, creating a small crater as she slammed into it. Her delighted expression was amplified as the pain ravaged her body.

Suddenly, Racer zoomed up against her, and with his amazing strength, began to pummel her with unrelenting strikes to the head. Leather Girl began to spurt blood from her nose and ears, but Racer did not relent.

"You! Dare! Steal! In! My! Town!" Racer cried between strikes. "You! Stupid! Filthy! WOG!"

That stopped both Double-D and Leather Girl in their tracks. Leather Girl's face had shown signs of swelling, and bruising, but much less that a normal person should after being hit several times by a man with superhuman speed and strength.

"What did you call m..."

Leather Girl was cut off by Racer punching her in the gut, sending her flying through the wall and into the book-shop next door. Racer stepped through the hole as Leather Girl sprawled on the floor, feeling waves of pleasure from her assault.

Flashpoint zoomed in-between Racer and Leather Girl.

"Racer, she's down. We stopped her, this is where our jurisdiction ends. Call the police and leave!"

Racer simply swung his arm and swatted Double-D away, sending the younger boy flying into a bookshelf. The wooden shelf shattered and Double-D clutched his chest. Not having invulnerability, Double-D knew he would be out of commission until he was healed.

Racer marched up to Leather Girl, who was slowly getting up. Racer raised his foot and punted her across the floor, causing some blood to spit from her mouth.

"Pleashe, I'm tired. I don't know how much more I can take." Leather Girl pleaded in vain, before Racer's foot came crashing down like the hammer of Thor.

Leather Girl moaned as a wave of pleasure shocked her systems. But her high-threshhold for pain wouldn't protect her forever, and she had tested her limits, and was fast approaching them.

"You should have though about that! WOG! Before you decided to steal in MY TOWN!"

"I'm...not black. Indian." Was all Leather Girl could muster.

"My apologies," Racer sneered as he rolled her onto her back with his foot. "You should have thought about stealing in my town, Punjab!"

Racer noticed Double-D struggling to get up. Racer's incredible strength must have done a number on his insides.

"My apologies, mein kinder." Racer said to Double-D softly. "Normally it pains me to attack both a fellow aryan and a good man. But you were trying to stop me from delivering justice to this piece of filth."

"You...you were going to kill her." Was all Double-D could say.

"So? She is both a thief and a punjab. In-sofar she has done nothing to prove she's fit to own the air in her lungs."

"But, it's not our place to take lives! And...what does her race have to do with anything!" Double-D panted, gasping for air as he tried in vain to stand.

"EVERYTHING!" Racer snapped. "Everyday I tolerate her kind on zhe streets of my city. I tolerate zhem because zhey haven't done anything but take our jobs and women. But the second zhis one crossed a line by stealing she proved she really is the piece of filth I know them all to be!"

Leather Girl tried to stand, but was swiftly kicked by Racer.

"But Racer." Double-D tried to reason with him. "I thought you were a hero? I thought you fought a for a clean, safe Peach Creek?"

"I do, Mein Kinder. Perhaps you're too young to understand, but non-the less. The I was given my power I took a vow. I painted zhat vall vith vords to remind me that I am zhe hero zhe European people deserve. I shall cleanse zhis continent from zhe filthy mud-races, and make Europe great again."

"I will...I will stop you! I want to make Britain safe. But safe from men like you! Criminals come in all classes, colours and creeds. But not one of them deserves to die. I...I will stop you because you hate, Racer. You hate for no other reason than whats on the outside. I may not be able to lift as much or hit as hard as you...but you're...you're hatred makes you weak."

"Zhen you are a phuool. Shame. I had such high hopes for you!"

He turned around, ready to stamp on Leather Girl's head. Suddenly, a whirring noise whipped up, and Racer's head darted around. Double-D spun his arm around and around, and created a mini-tornado. It slammed into Racer, who hit another bookshelf. Paper began to fly everywhere, creating a convenient cover.

Double-D scooped up the barely conscious Leather Girl, and smashed through the wall of the bookshop, running into the street. He blurred away, leaving a black and green streak of light.

Racer roared as he took smashed his way out of the bookshop, and zoomed off, following the after-image of Double-D.

* * *

Double-D carried Leather Girl bridal style, zooming down the road. He briefly looked behind him to see Racer, booking it like never before. There was a crazed and enraged expression on his face.

"Come back here with zhat punjab!" Racer barked over the howling winds. "I'm going to tear you apart, you little ruhnt!"

"Say again!" Double-D responded, unable to hear Racer correctly.

"I! Said! Stop!"

Racer hit the ground with a powerful stomp, forcing the street to crack. The resulting crevice caught Double-D by surprise and his foot was caught. He fell over, dropping Leather Girl who bounced several times as she rolled down the street.

Racer zoomed over Double-D and picked him up by the throat.

"I vill teach you to interfere vith justice!" Racer shrieked. He smashed Double-D into the ground, breaking the younger man even further.

Double-D coughed slightly, and struggled to get up, as Racer simply marched over him towards Leather Girl. He picked her up by the throat, and shook her awake.

"Ich am going to peel the flesh off of your bones." Racer growled, as he held Leather Girl close to her face.

Suddenly, Leather Girl's eyes snapped fully open, and she snapped her leg forward to deliver a powerful kick to Racer's chest. The older speedster dropped her, and she bounced off of the road, launching herself into him.

Racer doubled backwards as Leather Girl delivered another snap to his face. While still in mid-air, Double-D zoomed between them and slugged Leather Girl in the face, knocking her away. With his amazing speed, he flipped around and battered Racer in the face, knocking him backwards.

'Let's see.' Double-D calculated in his mind. 'Leather Girl is probably indestructible. I'll have to see if she can be tired out. Racer is much stronger than I am, and could be just as fast. He can't create tornadoes, nor run up walls, and seems to be incredibly tough.'

His stomach rumbled. He should have accepted that diet coke when he had the chance.

Double-D zoomed into Racer before the elder man had the chance to react.

"You know, you're not doing Germany any favors. It's people like you who prevent Germany from moving away from its whole Nazi image!" Double-D cried as he punched Racer in the stomach a few hundred times.

"ICH BIN SWISS!" Racer cried. He headbutted Double-D, causing another crack to appear in his visor.

Double-D stumbled backwards, allowing Racer to drive another punch into his stomach. Double-D was send flying, and Racer zoomed into him, driving punch after punch into his stomach and head.

Double-D finally dodged one of the blows and furiously pummeled Racer in the head. His strikes were fast, so fast it was as if he had a hundred arms and legs. Racer took them all head on, Double-D's constant assault causing massive bruising before Racer finally roared and swung his arm, swatting Double-D away. Racer took a few heavy breathes, as if Double-D had tired him out.

"Now, vhere is zhe thief?" He grunted.

"Right HERE!"

Racer was blindsided by Leather Girl, who snapped into his from his left side. She wrapped her stretchy arms around his neck, slowly choking him. Racer gagged as he tried to shake her off, repeatedly slamming himself and her into nearby walls and lampposts.

"Please! More!" Leather Girl moaned, entranced by the pain.

Racer slammed his back to another wall at high-speed in a vain attempt to shake her off.

Racer slammed himself again and again, picking up more speed each time.

Leather Girl moaned louder and louder. Her moans of pleasure were absolutely deafening to Racer, who was beginning to choke as Leather Girl tightened her grip around his neck.

There was a sudden rumble and Double-D blurred into the fray, walloping Leather Girl in the face and tearing her off Racer's back. Leather Girl bounced on the road, falling backwards. Double-D turned backwards and let loose a rapid-fire barrage of punches into Racer's face.

Racer doubled backwards, and Double-D took full advantage of this split-second opportunity. He ran back to Leather Girl's semi-unconsious body and blurred out, taking the both of them away from Racer.

* * *

Double-D carried Leather Girl bridal style, zooming down the road. He briefly looked behind him to see Racer, booking it like never before. There was a crazed and enraged expression on his face.

"Come back here with zhat punjab!" Racer barked over the howling winds. "I'm going to tear you apart, you little ruhnt!"

"Say again!" Double-D responded, unable to hear Racer correctly.

"I! Said! Stop!"

Racer hit the ground with a powerful stomp, forcing the street to crack. The resulting crevice caught Double-D by surprise and his foot was caught. He fell over, dropping Leather Girl who bounced several times as she rolled down the street.

Racer zoomed over Double-D and picked him up by the throat.

"I vill teach you to interfere vith justice!" Racer shrieked. He smashed Double-D into the ground, breaking the younger man even further.

Double-D coughed slightly, and struggled to get up, as Racer simply marched over him towards Leather Girl. He picked her up by the throat, and shook her awake.

"Ich am going to peel the flesh off of your bones." Racer growled, as he held Leather Girl close to her face.

Suddenly, Leather Girl's eyes snapped fully open, and she snapped her leg forward to deliver a powerful kick to Racer's chest. The older speedster dropped her, and she bounced off of the road, launching herself into him.

Racer doubled backwards as Leather Girl delivered another snap to his face. While still in mid-air, Double-D zoomed between them and slugged Leather Girl in the face, knocking her away. With his amazing speed, he flipped around and battered Racer in the face, knocking him backwards.

'Let's see.' Double-D calculated in his mind. 'Leather Girl is probably indestructible. I'll have to see if she can be tired out. Racer is much stronger than I am, and could be just as fast. He can't create tornados, nor run up walls, and seems to be incredibly tough.'

His stomach rumbled. He should have accepted that diet coke when he had the chance.

Double-D zoomed into Racer before the elder man had the chance to react.

"You know, you're not doing Germany any favors. It's people like you who prevent Germany from moving away from its whole Nazi image!" Double-D cried as he punched Racer in the stomach a few hundred times.

"ICH BIN SVISS!" Racer cried. He headbutted Double-D, causing another crack to appear in his visor.

Double-D stumbled backwards, allowing Racer to drive another punch into his stomach. Double-D was send flying, and Racer zoomed into him, driving punch after punch into his stomach and head.

Double-D finally dodged one of the blows and furiously pummelled Racer in the head. His strikes were fast, so fast it was as if he had a hundred arms and legs.

Powering through the thousands of punches, Racer roared and swung, almost shattering Double-D's jaw with a fearsome right hook.

Double-D's bone's instantly shifted back into position as his bones repaired themselves. The bruises and swollen lumps on his face also vanished, seemingly being absorbed back into his skin. After Double-D had regenerated, within seconds, a rumbling noise came from his stomach. He had used up the very last of his energy to heal himself, and his speed temporarily sputtered out.

Racer swung, and ploughed his fist into Double-D's face. Double-D was launched back, and slammed into a wall. He landed with a grunt, cracking the brick and mortar with the force of his impact.

Racer ran up to him and delivered another heavy swing, blasting him straight through the wall.

"You are no match for me, mein kinder." Racer growled menacingly as he stood over the hole Double-D was knocked through.

And with that he ran off, to look for Leather Girl.

* * *

Double-D slowly staggered upwards. He needed to chase after Racer and stop him. He needed to find Leather Girl and stop her. If Racer got to her first, then he'd kill her. If He got to Racer first, Leather Girl would escape. If he caught Leather Girl first, there'd be another brawl between himself, Leather Girl and Racer, something he was too weak for.

His belly rumbled, but he shook his head and pressed his hunger down. He wiggled his fingers, watching them vibrate. he still had some speed. If he ever had a limit, now was the time to find out.

He zoomed after Racer intent on finding Leather Girl.

* * *

Racer had easily tracked down Leather Girl whom had already recovered, and was ready for round two.

"Aw." Leather Girl whined. "I wash hoping I'd be chashed by the cute, shkinny one. Oh well, maybe you ca..."

Leather Girl wasn't allowed to finish as Racer slugged her in the face with a brutal and violent force. Leather Girl was launched off of her feet and the force launched her into the nearest wall. The wall of the local tobacconist was shattered, as Leather Girl's highly durable body caused a crater-like dent in the brick wall. Leather Girl bounced back onto the street, a look of ecstasy on her face.

Racer caught her by the head as she landed, and lifted her up before jerking back and smashing her body into the road. Leather Girl moaned in unparalleled delight as her body crackled in agony.

"Please, more!" She squealed.

Racer grew more and more enraged as he knelt over her, smashing his fists into her head over and over again, punching and punching, creating a larger and larger crater as he forced Leather Girl deeper and deeper into the ground.

Leather Girl's nose was bloody and her eye was swollen and black. She was fast approaching her limit for pain, and the damn kraut wasn't giving her any time to recover.

 **"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"** Racer shouted as he kept on hammering and hammering her.

"Not today!"

Out of nowhere, Double-D barreled into Racer and Leather Girl, knocking them both over. Leather Girl was finally forced to drop her bag of loot.

"My shtuff!" She cried out.

 **"I thought a varned you!"** Racer roared as he reeled his fist back for a mighty punch. He threw the punch, but Double-D's palm was so fast in intercepted the fist before Racer could blink. Double-D held the fist steady, but the blow landed with such a force it created a ripple through the air. The bones in Double-D's arms shattered immediately, but with a rumble in his stomach Double-D used was precious little energy he had left to knit the bones back instantly.

An aura of rage and power enveloped Double-D. He had a murderous look in his eye, which Racer could see through the hole Mishti had made earlier.

"Vhy?!" Racer demanded. " _VHY ARE YOU HELPING ZHIS FILTHY MUDRACE_!"

"I'm not!" Double-D demanded. He turned his head to look at Leather Girl, who was attempted to scoop up her stuff and put it back in her back whilst the two speedsters had each other distracted. "You're a thief and a criminal and when I catch you I am going to turn you into the police."

He turned back to Racer, the look in his eye registering betrayal and rage.

"But you, you're something much worse. You're a liar and a bigot and a maniac. You're not a Racer! You're a _ **RACIST**_!" Double-D screamed, as he yanked Racer's arm backwards, and spun, throwing Racer into Leather Girl with incredible force. Racer collided with Leather Girl and they both sailed into a nearby wall, creating a large crater in the wall.

Racer recovered much quicker than Leather Girl did, who remained stunned to soak in the pain. He ejected himself from the wall and made a mad dash for Double-D.

Double-D moved out of the way in a large arc, and ran up and along the nearest buildings before jumping off of the wall to ram into Racer. Double-D collided, and tucked and rolled on his shoulder to quickly get back on his feet.

Racer also shrugged of the blow. He ran at Double-D, who was unable to dodge Racer's freakish speed, and Double-D was slugged clean in the face. He was taken off of his feet, and catapulted into a wall. Blood spattered out of his nose.

Racer cricked his neck as he marched towards Double-D. "You are veak! Your speed is beginning to vane! But I..."

Double-D was pummelled in the stomach by Racer, who blurred infront of his and began to wail on Double-D's stomach.

"I AM **STRONG!"**

Racer swung wildly for another punch, but Double-D regained some speed and zoomed away before Racer's punch could connect. Racer's fist slammed into the wall, demolishing it, but Double-D was gone.

* * *

Double-D was running as fast as he could, but his lungs burned and his jaw hurt. He couldn't push himself like this for much longer.

Suddenly Double-D tripped, and came crashing into the pavement. He quickly recovered, as saw a caramel skinned leg stretched across the pavement, which snapped back to it's owner, Leather Girl.

"Hey there hewo. Forgotten about little old me?" Leather Girl's gag-induced lisp cackled as Double-D struggled to get off of the floor.

'Damn it.' Double-D thought. 'I don't need this right now!'

"I want you to beat me up. I came out here to tashte the pain only you can give me. And I alwaysh get what I want!" Mishti sneered, kneeling down to stroke Double-D's chin.

Double-D sprung up and butted her in the face, causing Mishti to double back in bliss. Leather Girl recovered quicker than Double-D could, and took another swing at him, slowly as if to offer herself as an easy target.

"More!" She begged.

Double-D stood the best he could as found enough speed to deliver a high-powered kick to Leather Girl's stomach, stomping her into the pavement. She screamed immodestly, and remained in the crater for a while, giving Double-D enough to time to run up the road in an attempt to get away.

Double-D was frantic. Two super villains on both sides and his stomach cried out for nourishment. He felt his speed began to fizzle out. His vision was blurred, and his lip was cut. His blood tasted of copper, as it dripped down his face.

Suddenly he felt two arms wrapped themselves around his neck their rubbery flexibility forming a makeshift noose.

"Hey honey-bunny." Leather-Girl purred as she rubbed her cheek against his as Double-D gasped for air.

"Not so much of a good-boy now, are you?" She sneered.

_"No!" Double-D gasped. "Can't...breathe. Need to...run...away!"_

* * *

_Then it hit Double-D. The world around him stopped, and the pain and damage he had sustained almost exploded off of him, leaving a red and purple mess in the air around him. His windpipe filled with air, despite Leather Girl's crushing grip._

_The rumbling in his stomach died down, and he felt his muscles surge with an energy that drowned out the aches. His pupils dilated as his iris began to glow a bright blue, although this was only visible through the whole in his helmet._

_His heart kicked into overdrive, and his blood felt like it had become lightning. His veins pulsed crimson, as his body filled with electricity. Blood Lightning. Red Lightning._

_Double-D began to vibrate with power as time sped back up. Leather Girl clung to his back as he vibrated, his wetsuit heating up more and more, Double-D's body enveloping in a red-hot aura._

_Leather Girl howled in pain as she let go, allowing Flashpoint to spin around as slug her in the stomach, launching her away like a cannonball._

_There was a buzz in Double-D's eye sockets, as if a new-sense was emerging. He could still see around him, but at the same time he had new knowledge. He could see a map of the surrounding area, the buildings, the roads, the wreckage. He could also see dots. In the middle was himself, the green dot. In front of him was Leather Girl, a black dot. Up the road, on the edge of the map was another black dot, Racer, and he was coming up fast._

_Double-D turned to face Racer, and reeled his fist up, smashing it into Racer just as the older speedster became visible. Double-D's fist remained rock solid, but Racer's nose shattered like glass._

_Racer was knocked off of his feet a little, and Double-D used his newfound energy to start smacking Racer in the chest, driving the swiss-man into the pavement._

_Racer stood up to quickly, and intercepted one of Double-D's strikes, lifting him by the neck, as the smaller speedster dangled in the air._

_"How?" Racer grunted. "How have you regained your energy?"_

_Double-D said nothing, but spun violently in Racer's hands, forcing the older speedster to let go. Double-D dropped, but kept spinning, forming a whirling dervish that slammed into Racer, knocking backwards._

_Leather Girl came back into the fray and jumped onto Flashpoint's back. She was deceptively heavy, and threw Flashpoint off balance a little bit. This was enough for Racer to tackle them both his his shoulder, bulldozing the both of them into a street-lamp. The lamp was knocked over and the wires inside came loose, writhing like snakes._

_Leather Girl wrapped herself around both Flashpoint and Racer, tying her limbs around their necks, and slamming their heads together. The two speedsters toppled and fell on the floor, where Mishti was lashed by a live cable._

_The electricity travelled down the three superhumans, causing excruciating pain in all three of them. The three writhed in pain and shock, as the electricity pulsed through their systems and overloaded their bodies._

_Leather Girl moaned and panted, as her stomach and chest began to glow a molten red, rapidly approaching her limit for pain. She was absorbing far too much far too quickly._

And it was time to let it out.

"Ah...Ahhhh!" Mishti screamed, as the glow grew brighter. "Ahhhhhh... ** _AAAAAHHHHHHH_**!"

The resulting explosion was deafening. A White-hot light enveloped the hole block in a giant hemisphere. It was only for the fact it was was almost midnight that nobody was around in the shopping district. Racer and Flashpoint were caught in the blast.

The blast subsided and Leather Girl fell in a slump, her breathing laboured as steam came off of her in waves.

Double-D's wetsuit had several holes and tears in it, exposing severally burnt flesh. Steam came off of him as the burned flesh slowly restored itself to health.

"Ahh!" Came a deep guttural wail. "Vhy!"

Double-D turned to see Racer holding his hand over his face.

"Vhy! I thought you ver a hero! I thought you ver _**LIKE ME**_!"

Racer took the hand away from his face. The Christian Cross on Racer's wetsuit had melted into a swastika. His face carried a severe and ugly burn, rendering his right eye black and red, and exposing some teeth in the right corner of his mouth.

"I'll never be like you. I'm a hero. I fight for everyone. You're a Racist! That's all you'll be, monster!"

"You zhink me a monster!" The Racist roared. "Zhen I vill be a your vurst nightmare!"

Flashpoint and The Racist collided, whirling around and around in a powerful spiral. The winds whipped up in a powerful hurricane, of black and green and white and red. The Racist punched, and Double-D kicked. The blows between the two speedsters collided, creating powerful sonic booms, levelling the pavement and nearby buildings. The Racist smashed into Double-D with a mighty headbutt, the force of which blew all the wreckage out of the road.

Double-D retaliated by grabbing The Racist's arm and twisting it over his shoulder, throwing The Racist in a near perfect Ippon Sianagi. The Racist slammed into the floor creating a burst of rock. The Racist stayed in the ground for a bit, panting heavily.

Double-D marched over to the unconscious Leather Girl. He tossed her over his shoulder, ready to take her in to the police.

"F-flashpoint!"

Double-D turned to see Racer, somewhat damaged, and bleeding at the mouth, but otherwise at full strength.

"I am going to hunt you down and crush everyzhing you hold dear! I am going to destroy you Flashpoint."

Double-D looked The Racist straight in the eye. He sneered.

"You can't threaten me, because you belief one thing about me that I know to be false."

"And vas is zhat!" The Racist demanded.

"You thing Flashpoint is my name." Double-D said, and with that he blurred out, speeding down the road with Mishti still slumped over his shoulder.

The Racist roared as he gave chase, barrelling down the streets of England as he chased after Flashpoint. The chase continued for almost seconds with The Racist forever lingering ever so slightly behind Flashpoint.

Double-D turned around, running backwards, with Leather Girl's unconsious form still flailing over his back. Double-D smirked as he gave The Racist a mock salute, and the turned around and sped up blurring away so fast and leaving Racer in the dust. The Racist stopped in the middle of the english countryside, looking frantically from side to side. Flashpoint was no where in sight. With a roar of defeat, The Racist fell to his knees, clawing at the ground.

_**"FLASHPOINT! I'LL CHASE YOU TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. YOU TOOK MY FACE! I WILL FIND YOU, AND I WILL KILL YOU!"** _

* * *

After tying up Leather Girl outside the police station, and returning to his house Double-D stripped out of his costume, tossing it in his "Too Be Sewed" basket in the living room. He then went into the kitchen, and cooking up an enormous sandwich. Rum Ham, Iceburg Lettuce, Mayonaise. He considered Swiss Chess, but decided against it and went with German Smoked Cheese.

He wolfed it down immediately, but still feeling hungry, Double-D went back to his fridge, and resolved to simply shovel everything he could find into his mouth.

He then made the long trudge upstairs, eager to fall into his soft, pillowy bed.

He went up to his bedroom, but stopped at the door. It was almost like he heard...voices in his room. Somebody was in his room! HOW UNTHINKABLE!

Double-D blurred towards his stairway bannister, and grabbed Jim the Cactus. He wielded the spiky plant, ready to swing at the potential invader.

He gently pushed open the door, to see Eddy, Ed, and a tied up Chinese Girl bounded and gagged, tied to his computer chair.

"Heya Double-D, easy night?" Ed asked cheerfully.

"Guys...Who Is That Tied Up Woman?"


	5. A Long Night

**Red Lightning: The Gods are Amongst Us**   
**S1E5: A Long Night**

_My life changed when a storm, full of red lightning, split the sky in half as it struck the ground._

_My friend Double-D was given super speed. He's all good and justice and stuff, but he's a good guy to have in a fist-fight now. He calls himself Flashpoint now._

_As for me, I'm a giant, metal man. Half the time, anyway. I'm untouchable, stronger than anything, and all it takes are some magic words. Who am I? I'm Quarterback!_

**-Eddy McGee**

* * *

"Guys...Who Is That Tied Up Woman?"

Ed tossed a glance towards the tied up Chinese Girl they had cocooned in tape and bonded to Double-D's swivelly chair.

"Oh her?" Ed chuckled. "She's a ninja that tried to cut my head off, right Eddy?"

Double-D threw his hands up around his temples in stress

"You fool!" He cried, zooming between Ed and Eddy, and ramming his finger into Ed's chest at such a speed it looked like a hummingbird was attempting to assault Ed.

" _ **WHAT-DID-I-TELL-YOU-ABOUT-USING-OUR-NAMES-IN-FRONT-OF-STRANGERS!**_ " Double-D cried, exasperated.

Eddy placed a calming hand on Double-D's shoulder.

"Look, we found her and three other Ninja-Chicks trying to transport a crate full of collars, like the one we found on Kevin. We've got a whole crate for you to study. Plus her! Think man, if anyone knows what these things are, and where they come from, it's her." Eddy explained.

Double-D sighed. Eddy made a sound point, and he turned to the tied up Ninja Girl. Twin Sai had been placed out of her reach on his desk, near his Skull.

"So what do we do with her?" Double-D asked.

"We keep her here for now. You're folks arn't home, and to be honest, you've got the best powers to deal with her in a straight up fight." Eddy said.

"WHAT!" Double-D cried. "I don't want her in my house! You said she tried to cut Ed's head off!"

"Well too bad Double-D. We wanted to be a superheroes? This is a sacrifice we have make!" Eddy said. "You're here, alone, and with your powers you're more than able to keep her contained! I have a family that I can't be garunteed to protect! Ed has no powers! You're the only one of us who can do this!" Eddy said. "As team leader, I'm making that decision!"

Double-D's head fell, and he was left looking at his feet.

"Okay Eddy."

"Ok." Eddy nodded in agreement. "Come on Ed, I'll take you home. And Double-D, you need to fix my car tomorrow, first thing, or my Dad's gonna kill me!"

Double-D could only raise an incredulous eyebrow as Eddy wandered out the front door with Ed, leaving him alone with the psychopathic ninja chick.

He looked at her, and she looked at him, still helpless bound to a chair.

"Hey," Double-D said nervously.

"Mph." Was all the sound she could make through her duct-taped gag.

"Here." Double-D said as he reached forward, ripping the tape away from his captive's mouth. "Better?"

"Thanks, Double-D?" Came the ninja-girl's response.

This stopped Double-D in his tracks, how in the world did she find out his nickname?

"How..."

"You're friends are not very bright." She said, rolling her eyes, with a slight Chinese accent. "They called each other 'Ed' and 'Eddy' literally all night long."

Double-D's clenched his fists in rage. He had spend hours lecturing and drilling this one simple thing into them. Don't use real names!

She chuckled at this, but her training and formal teachings took priority. Her sense of pragmatism begged her not to do this, but her sense of honor pressed on.

"I'm Roxie, by the way." She said.

Double-D blinked. She gave away information about herself so freely. Surely this must be some kind of tactic.

"So..." Roxie said, her eyes drifting around the room.

"So..." Double-D repeated.

"Am I the first time you've had a prisoner or do you normally have girls over like this?" She smirked.

Double-D visibly flinched at this accusation, not at all accustomed to entertaining female guests, let alone psychopathic Kunoichi mercenary.

Double-D sighed, and noticed his Helmet, sitting on his desk. Double-D's eyebrow raised as a thought crept into his mind. He zoomed towards the desk, and collected the helmet, becoming visible again with his green and black helmet strapped onto his face. Due to Leather Girl's actions, it still sported a rather unattractive hole in his visor, exposing his left eye.

"Well, you're the first girl who hasn't been willing?" Double-D chuckled from underneath his helmet. Double-D's demeanor immediately relaxed.

Roxie, on the other hand, tensed up. Why on earth was he wearing that thing. The shattered visor exposing only his left eye made it look like his eye was positively bulging. It looked incredibly off-putting.

He and the golden one were quite obviously yokai. The golden one was clearly a metal golem of some description, and this one was some sort of speed monster. He had donned his war helmet, and had her in his clutches.

"Now." Double-D said, catching Roxie's attention. "I am going to ask you one question, and I'm only gonna say this once so listen up."

Roxie trembled. She tried to squirm, but the sticky tape binding her were too tight. Flashpoint's helmet, giving off an almost metallic hum as the body inside vibrated, drifted closer and closer to her face.

"Would you like Pizza or Chinese Food?" Came Double-D's question.

This caused Roxie's eyes to snap wide open in surprise. She wasn't expecting that line of questioning at all.

"What?" Was Roxie's only response.

"I'm starving!" Double-D answered, despite only having just eaten a large sandwich.

"It's 2 in the morning!" Roxie retorted, half-disbelieving she was even having such a conversation. "No restaurant will be open for hours."

"I know a place!" Came Double-D's rebuttal. "And I can prove it the second you answer me...Chinese or Pizza?"

"Fine. Chinese Food." Roxie grumbled. At least with him gone for half an hour or so she could have time to escape.

"Okay, that's more like it." Double-D responded. There was a sonic bang as Double-D blurred out in a flash of green and black light, and reappeared in the span of seconds, holding up almost a crate of food from "Papa Chop's Authentic New York Chowhouse!"

Roxie's jaw dropped.

"Here, I have the entire menu so pick what you want. I think I'll be eating light tonight."

Double-D cleared his desk and took of his helmet. He than began to unload all the food onto his desk. He carefully moved all his notebooks and stationary into his desk drawer, and carefully placed his collection of bones on top of his art farm.

"So, I have Egg-Fried Rice, Garlic Chicken? What would you like?"

"Um, Egg-Fried Rice please." Roxie mumbled.

Double-D nodded and quickly, very quickly, ran to his kitchen, grabbed two bowls and sets of cutlery and served up a heaping potion of Egg-Fried Rice and pushed it in front of Roxie. Roxie's eyes darted towards her bonds, and flashed Double-D a "now what?" look.

"How am I supposed to eat this?" Roxie asked. "What, were you gonna funnel-feed me?"

Double-D just looked at her with a raced eyebrow. He didn't seem to move, but there was a burst of air and suddenly Roxie's binds were removed.

"Eat up," He said with a grin.

Roxie shrieked and took her newfound freedom to lunge at him. She had no weapons, but she could wait around to get tortured for information. She had to at least try.

Suddenly the world around Roxie blurred and whirlled around, as she found herself on the floor as her head was stamped on by Double-D's foot. Her jaws ached and blood splattered from her mouth and nose.

"I get that the whole Superhuman Speed thing is kind of a nebulous concept, but please understand that I can handle whatever you try to pull." Double-D said, lifting his boot off of Roxie's face, and then offered her his hand to help her up.

"Now, dinner?"

Roxie ate quietly for the rest of the night.

* * *

It was nearly 4 AM, and Double-D was still watching Roxie like a hawk. Roxie, however, with a full stomach and running on little sleep as it is, was beginning to nod off.

"How are you still awake?" She asked.

"Will you answer my questions if I answer that." Was Double-D's response.

"Probably not." Roxie shrugged, not having the energy to resist or panic anymore. "We Ninjas are all about secrets you know."

"Fair enough." Double-D was, with an unsurprising grin. "I haven't really slept since I got my powers. I nap on occasion, but I don't think I need to as much anymore."

"So you were once a human?"

"I still am," Double-D responded to Roxie's statement, before adding, "I think."

"So if you're not a Yokai then what are you?" Roxie asked.

"What's a Ninja doing in Essex?" Double-D countered.

Roxie decided to change her line of questioning. "So, are they more of you?"

"What, other people with my face and address?" Double-D smirked, playing dumb.

"I mean more fast people!" Roxie chuckled slightly, as the sleep depreivation was getting to her.

Double-D felt a burning sensation on his face and arms, reminding him of the terribly injuries that The Racist had inflicted on him only hours ago.

"As far as I know of, just one other." Double-D grumbled.

"And you're friend Eddy, he's strong, right?" Roxie pressed onward, fishing for more information, "And you're friend Hector is electric?"

This statement stopped Double-D dead in his tracks.

"Who on earth is Hector?"

Roxie's eyes snapped open and her breathing faltered, realizing she had said too much. She had assumed that all the monsters knew each other, or at least were all connected. Now she had not only placed herself in danger, but her village as well.

" _ **Forget it!**_ " Roxie snapped. "I didn't say anything."

Double-D began to vibrate, and green lighting danced around his eyes. He pointed a blurry finger at Roxie, and with his vibrating vocal cords, he said,

"Don't lie to me Roxie." He said. There was a gust of wind as Double-D placed his helmet back on before Roxie could even blink.

"I swear, I don't know who he is!" Roxie cringed, but suddenly found herself bound in tape again. She attempted to shuffle backwards, away from the speedsters deadly finger, but her panic only increased.

_"Demonbegonedemonbegonedemonbegone!"_ She could only squeak in desperate prayer.

Double-D dialed it back, and took his helmet off. He looked at what he had reduced that poor girl to, and felt horrified about it.

"I'm sorry." Was all he said.

"I don't know him. We spoke only a little. He gave me the collars." Roxie admitted, feeling sick to her stomach.

"So he might know where they come from?" Double-D said.

Roxie belted up at this, determined not to say anymore.

Double-D didn't mind so much. Now he had information he could use. He needed to find a man named Hector, and this Hector fellow used electricity.


	6. Burning Rubber

**Red Lightning: The Gods are Amongst Us**   
**S1E6: Burning Rubber**

_My life changed when a storm, full of red lightning, split the sky in half as it struck the ground._

_My friend Double-D was given super speed. He's all good and justice and stuff, but he's a good guy to have in a fist-fight now. He calls himself Flashpoint now._

_As for me, I'm a giant, metal man. Half the time, anyway. I'm untouchable, stronger than anything, and all it takes are some magic words. Who am I? I'm Quarterback!_

**-Eddy McGee**

* * *

"Hey, pass down the generator, would ya? I need some light down hear."

Joe Creel was having a rough day. Supposedly his day off, he was called into work early this morning to work on a burst sewer pipe. Apparently due to a freak windstorm, as he arrived at the scene with his crew, the wind damage was obvious. What wasn't obvious was the road damage, the craters and the shattered walls. It looked like two bulldozers had been having a fight.

Now, tired and wanting to go home, Joe was standing knee deep in sewage in a pipe looking for the damage. His team stood above him, looking through the manhole.

"And make it snappy, I'm boiling my ass off down here!" Joe barked, as his crew lowered down the generator into the sewers.

Joe grabbed the Generator by the handle, and switched on his flash light, ready to find the damage.

As he waded through the muck, he began to sweat more and more. The heat was almost unbearable. He tugged at the neck of his shirt, but pressed on forward.

He soon found the begining of the rupture. A large slab of concrete from above ground had crashed down into the piping, crushing it. Sunlight was beaming down from the hole. But what got Joe's attention was the glowing, red metal.

Fragment's of metal were molten red, and the stench of sewer gas was horrid, like the sewer had been baked. The pieces of red hot metal formed a trail up the tunnel, over the piece of concrete, and around a nearby corner.

Joe picked up his walkie-talkie.

"Guys, I think their may have been some electrical damage down here as well. Everything looks fried." He spoke into the walkie. "I'm gonna go a little further ahead, and see what the damage is."

"Okay, go on ahead. We'll be waiting up hear ready to start digging."

"Copy that," Joe said as he wandered futher down the tunnel. The heat was scorching now, and as Joe noted, all the electrical wires and gaslines for the area had been roasted.

There was a bright red glow and firey roar coming from around the corner. Joe panicked, if their was an open fire down hear then the damage was worse than initially thought.

Joe peeked around the corner, and his jaw just dropped.

It was teenaged boy with brick red hair and the bushiest eyebrows ever. He wore a red glass visor that covered his eyes, and a bright red and and black costume. It was sleeveless, but the shirt covered his neck and cheeks. On his chest, in between two black areas, was a picture of a piece of toast.

And he was humming.

He stood in front of a perfectly intact fuse box, an electrical hub for the cities wiring. The Joe watched in horror, as the boy in the red suit conjured fire from in between his fingers.

The fire grew bigger and bigger in his hands, before finally the red boy thrust his hands towards the fusebox, and a stream of concentrated fire blast out of his hands, obliterating the fusebox. He then dusted his hands off, and turned to walk towards the next fusebox down the pipe.

And he was still humming.

Joe tried to duck behind the corner to avoid detection, but suddenly his walkie talkie went off.

"Joe, are you alright down there? We can't seem to find you?"

The red head stopped and slowly turned around. Joe tried to duck behind the corner but a sudden burst of a fire cut him off. A firey wall cut him off and he suddenly found himself in the red-head's plain view.

"Don't be scared." The teen said, as Joe slowly turned to look at him. He was wreathed in flames, but he wasn't burning. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Joe was crouching down, his arms above his face, trying to shield himself from the immense heat.

"You're not?" Joe whimpered. He had never seen anything like this. The teen stretched out a burning hand under Joe's chin.

"No, I'm only gonna kill you." The red teen said, as fire erupted from his hand. Joe could only scream for seconds before his flesh completely burned away. The fires roared and there was a smell of burnt flesh in the air.

The red teen walked away, still humming, leaving only a scorch mark behind him.

* * *

Kevin and Nazz were walking to school together. The weather was bright and sunny, but the autumn air was ver cold. Kevin was dressed in a white hoodie and green scarf, and Nazz was dressed in a fluffy pink jumper. Kevin was walking very slowly, his rubber body becoming slightly more brittle in the cold.

"So Monica and I are going out to this new club thats just opened up, The Bounce, and I was wondering if you'd like to come along?"

"Sorry Nazz, I'm going out with Johnny tonight." Kevin responded.

"Why are you hanging out with Johnny so much lately, I thought you said he was a loon?" Nazz questioned, disappointed that Kevin wasn't spending time with her anymore.

"Yeah, he's a little off the wall, but he knows his stuff!" Kevin defended.

"He lives in the woods," Nazz snapped back. "He only ever ventures into civilization to come to school."

"Yeah, but he's the only guy I know who knows about this nerd stuff."

"Nerd stuff? Nazz repeated, before it slowly dawned on her. The two kept walking, with Nazz skipped over a fallen branch. She huffed, and placed her hands on her hips in frustration. "Kevin, don't tell me you're still going on about this superhero nonsense!"

"It's not nonsense Nazz, I saw them!" Kevin insisted.

"For the last time Kevin, they are not real!" Nazz grunted through her teeth, insisting she was correct on the matter.

"They are," Kevin muttered under his breathe. "I saw them."

Nazz simply rolled her eyes in response.

Kevin and Nazz soon came up to their campus ground, and found Ed, Edd n' Eddy gathered around Eddy's canary-yellow hatchback. It looked like it had recently been worked on, and they were gathered around the boot.

Nazz was content to keep on walking, but Kevin couldn't help but sneer as he walked on by, his enhanced hearing only catching fragments of their conversation.

* * *

The Eds huddled around the boot of Eddy's Hatchback, discussing their next move. Double-D had a collar in his hand, talking about how it had the same anomalies, a surprising lack of any intricate circuits or such.

Eddy, however, wasn't listening, as he was all too entranced by his car. Double-D has successfully repaired all the damage to his car, even building new parts from scratch. He guessed it was a speed thing, Double-D learned stuff faster or something.

"…But I managed to get a name out of her," Double-D finished up aware that neither Ed or Eddy had been paying attention. "We need to find a man named Hector. Apparently, he's like us."

"I still can't get used to the fact that there are more of you out there," Ed said breathlessly.

"Believe it Ed. So far I've fought two criminals, each with superpowers. Remember, it was a very large storm. I'm not even sure if it was limited to the city. For all we know, people all over the country could be developing superpowers, maybe even the world!" Double-D rambled on.

"Speaking of all this new information, who's watching the ninja chick?" Eddy noted, worried that Double-D had left their prisoner unattended.

"Actually she's here." Double-D said, as he opened up Eddy's car boot. The door to the trunk opened and Ed and Eddy almost lost their breath at the sight of Roxie, still tied up, stuffed into Eddy's boot.

"Hello," She said, curtly.

Eddy quickly slammed the door shut.

"What the hell!" Eddy stammered. "How did she even get in there?"

"I put her in there when you picked me up this morning."

"But you…never mind, super speed right?" Eddy huffed.

"You know it." Double-D smiled.

"So, what will we do with her," Eddy asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh I'm quite content in here. I figure I should stick with you guys until my clan shows up to spring me lose and kill you all."

There was a small silence, as the Eds looked at each other.

"Who has a free first period?" Eddy asked.

"I do." Ed said.

"You're on watch." The other two Eds said in unison as they ran off to class. Ed shrugged, and got in the front seat, guarding the ninja girl in Eddy's trunk. There was minute of silence as Ed intently watched the trunk.

"Can you turn on the radio, shite kudasai?" Roxie asked from inside the trunk. Ed took milliseconds to think about this.

"Sure!"

* * *

There was a burst of sparks from the overhead lights as the burst from the power surge. The red teen conjured up fire from his hand to provide himself with sufficient light. He used his other hand to brush away a lock of brick red hair from his ear, revealing a communications device.

"Puppetman?" He said into the device.

There was a haze of static feedback, but finally, a croaky, almost mechanical voice answered.

"Who's this?"

"This is Toast sir, I've finished the job." Toast looked back down the corridor of the sewers to admire his handiwork. Each fusebox had been utterly incinerated, each one now a steaming puddle of molten metal and warped wiring. Toast continued, "All the power conduits in the industrial district have been cut. The district is now running on the ghost net, ready for you to pull the plug."

"Excellent." Was all that came from Toast's earpiece, "Soon the blackout will occur."

"Now that I've destroyed the power grid sir, we need to talk about my payment," Toast interrupted, but no without sweating slightly.

"Yes, yes, the location of one Mr. Hector will be yours soon. When the lights go out, we'll be able to track his unique electrical charge." Puppetman's voice sounded in Hector's ear. "However..."

"What?" Toast said flatly, trying desperately to hide his rage.

"We need you to retrieve a lost shipment for us. It's a crate of gadgetry created by a Mr. Hector Railway, which was stolen from us yesterday night. The tracer in the technology was set off, and I need you to follow the co-ordinates I'm sending you now. Do it before the lights go out, and then you will have your information."

The transmission cut, leaving Toast standing in the sewer. His wristband began to blink, and he held his arm to his chest. The holographic fibres on his costume now showed him a rudimentary map of the city, a red dot for himself, and a yellow dot for his target.

His feet burst into flames, and he spied the nearest manhole. He threw a fireball, blasting the manhole cover away, allowing daylight to shine inwards. The fire around his legs flared, and he jumped, soaring like a rocket as he flew out of the manhole, before gravity took a hold of him and he landed back on the road. It was moderately busy, and a car honked as it slammed the brakes, skidding towards Toast.

Toast rubbed his hands together, creating vast flames that enveloped his arms, and threw the flames at the oncoming car. It was incinerated, driver inside, and Toast turned his flamethrower towards the other nearby cars that were coming towards him. The screams and crashes were plentiful, as the flames caught travelled. A nearby pinto came screeching to a halt, but it was too little too late, as the small car skidded into the fires, exploding magnificently. The chaos was amazing, and Toast ignited his legs, and lept into the sky, cackling.

* * *

Ed had almost nodded off before Eddy came back to relieve him of duty. Ed scampered off, eager to make it to ICT Class.

Eddy had just come back from Maths, and was eager to have a break, and watching the girl in the trunk was just the sitdown he needed.

"Which one are you?" Roxie's voice sounded from inside the boot. Eddy opened up his rucksack to fish out another in a long line of snacks.

"Eddy," He replied, biting into his sausage roll. There was a pause with only the sound of Eddy chewing. Eddy shuffled a bit, leaning around to look at the boot.

"Which one is that?" Roxie asked sheepishly.

"The metal one," Eddy sighed.

"Aw." Was Roxie's disappointed response. Eddy went red in the face.

"And just for that you don't get a ham roll." Eddy huffed, crossing his arms.

"I need no ham roll, devil-man, I simply need to bide my time, before my brethren of the shadows strike, and free me, where I will reclaim my honour and strike you down monster!"

Eddy, however, had stopped listening a while ago, more content to finish his sausage roll and turn up his music.

Suddenly, Double-D zoomed in outside Eddy's car, rapidly tapping the glass of Eddy's window, to the point his hand was merely a blur.

"EDDY! EDDY!" Double-D urgently banged on the window. "Were have a situation! You need to see this!"

"Dude, calm down!" Eddy urged, as he rolled down the windows. "What situation?"

"It's on the TV in the school common room! C'mon!"

Edd tried to zip off but Eddy grabbed him before he could run.

"Wait Double-D, what do we do with her?" Eddy said through his teeth as he pointed his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to the back of the car. "We can't leave her."

"Well what do you suggest?" Double-D asked.

* * *

Eddy and Double-D ran into the common room, were most of the student body were watching the large tv suspended from the ceiling. Roxie was gagged, and tied up with thick tape, allowing Double-D to carry her over his shoulder like a sling.

"Eddy, Double-D, thank goodness you're here." Nazz said as she noticed them, and came running over. "It's terrible. Kevin took one look at the chaos and he bolted!"

Nazz's eyes went wide when she saw Roxie tied up, slung over Double-D's shoulder.

"Um, hello?" She said slowly, entirely unsure of what to do.

Double-D elbowed Eddy discreetly.

"I told you people would notice!" He hissed beneath his breath.

"Mmph, mmph!" Was all Roxie's could mumble beneath her gag.

_Before Double-D and Eddy could stop her, Nazz instinctively tore the tape away from Roxir's mouth. Roxie took a deep breath._

_"Hi, we haven't formerly met." She said, her eyes closed and smiling thoroughly. "My name is Roxie, and my boyfriend Double-D ad I are going through a little BDSM experimentation, no worries, it's all safe and consensual." She lied._

_Nazz was slightly taken aback, and blushed profusely._

_Ignoring her, Eddy, Double-D and Roxie met with Ed, and watched the news report on the big screen._

_"We now two hours into the aftermath of the large gas explosion, and rescue services are still attempting to extinguished the flames. Unfortuantly, the random car explosions make it impossible for the fire services to breach the fire and rescue the people who are trapped inside."_

_The reporter went on, but the Eds were horrified at the carnage._

_"I'll suit up and see you there." Double-D said to Eddy, who nodded seriously. Roxie yelped as he jogged out the corridor, ad screamed as he zoomed off the second he was out of sight._

_"Ed, you stay here and keep watching, tell us if there are any developments." Eddy barked as he ran out the door._

_"Ok!" Ed said as Eddy ran out the door._

* * *

_The inferno was so hot, and the smoke blackened out the sky. Flashpoint was first to arrive on the scene, with Roxie strapped to his back._

_"Let me go, Baka!" Roxie protested. "If you want to dive into a fire, be my guest, but don't drag me in with you."_

_"Relax" Flashpoint said, as he cocked his neck. "I've done this before."_

_He stuck out his arms, and spun them around, creating a funnel of extreme winds. The smoke was blasted out of the sky, and the nearest flames flickered out, but the further away flames still persisted._

_Flashpoint concentrated, and like the night before, a map appeared in the back of his mind, appearing in his vision. All the obstacles perfectly mapped around him, a green dot representing himself. Right behind him was Roxie, shown as a black dot. Amidst the flaming labyrinth were scattered white and brown dots. He didn't know what a brown dot meant, but one or two white dots were turning brown._

_Flashpoint zoomed into the fire, finding the nearest car. There was a man inside, cooking in the heat._

_"Help me!" He called out._

_Flashpoint tried to yank the car door away, but his hand burned at the piping hot metal._

_"Ah!" He cringed, retracting his hand._

"Help!" The man inside begged.

But Flashpoint couldn't get close without excruciating injury. The man continued to beg for help, but Double-D could neither open the door, not could he blast it open with wind without spraying molten metal all over the man.

"Don't worry Flashpoint, I'm coming!"

Eddy's metallic bellow herald his arrival. He lept over the flames, high in the air, and landed on both feet, causing the ground to tremble.

His glistening hand reached forward, and wretched the piping hot door off of the car. The man inside gasped and spilled out onto the street, barely able to stand.

Double-D hoisted him onto his shoulders, causing Roxie to groan as the man was piled on top of her, and sped out to the paramedics, dropping him beside an ambulance.

Double-D zipped back to Eddy, who was already gathering up survivors. The smoke was piling up again, and Double-D couldn't blow it away without pumping the flames with more oxygen.

Eddy was lifting up cars, ripping them open and shaking out the injuried civilians, as Double-D got back to him after another rescue, to Eddy's horror, a dead woman flopped out of her car. Her face was covered in burns, and it looked like she had died of smoke insulation.

In Double-D's mind, there was a brown dot in front of him. He now knew what brown dots meant, and their were even more of them now.

"We can't keep doing it like this! We're too slow!" Flashpoint shouted over the fires.

"Well how can we put the fires out?" Quarterback asked. There were in the middle of a highstreet, and if they didn't put out the area, the fires would spread towards town.

Double-D looked around, and spied what might be his answer. There were several firetrucks, spraying the flames and keeping the fires contained, but unable to breach the wall of fire to get in to rescue civilians.

"Quarterback, I need you to get a firetruck, and burst it's tanker!" Double-D barked.

"On it!" Quarterback said. He lept back over the wall of fires, and barrelled towards the firestrucks. The firemen saw this gleaming metal monster and fled, one brave one even attempted to spray Eddy with the hose.

Quarterback barrelled on straight through a firetruck, bursting it's water-tank and causing an enormous splash to fly into the air. The firemen dived for cover, as a black and green line zigzagged around them, dropping Roxie in Quarterback's arms and spiralling around the explosion of water. Flashpoint ran around and around it, creating a hurricane, collecting all the water. Flashpoint continued to spin, guiding the water-cyclone into the fires.

The water sprayed everywhere, extinguishing the fires as it barraged through. Edd's brain showed the the number of brown dots had stopped increasing, as he finished his water stop and stomped out the last giant tongue of fire. The ground was scorched and steam was everywhere, and in the middle of a streaming, ash-filled junk pile, was Flashpoint. He looked at the fire-fighters.

One of the last embers had escaped the tornados and quickly faded away, but the lack of sweltering heat and smoke revealed the incredibly damaged area. One street lamp had melted away completely, and was about to fall.

"Watch out!" Eddy yelped as the lamppost collapsed over Flashpoint.

Double-D gasped, as two elongated, cable-like arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him to safety.

_**"Gotcha!"** _

Flashpoint sailed to safety behind a car as the streetlamp crashed down, smashing the pavement. The rubbery tendrils unraveled themselves around the speedsters waist, and yanked him back to safety.

Flashpoint stumbled on the ground as the rubber tendrils slipped away from his body.

"Haha! Dude, I totally saved you!" Said a familiar accent. Flashpoint looked upwards, to see Kevin's face.

"Kevin!" Flashpoint blurted out inadvertently.

Kevin broke his chuckle to look at Flashpoint and raise an eyebrow. "How do you know my name?"

Flashpoint dusted himself off and stood up. "Never mind, what are you doing here? This area is burning to the ground. It's dangerous!"

"I'm here to help!" Kevin insisted.

"But it's not save!" Flashpoint insisted.

"Then why are you here?" Kevin challenged.

"Because I can heal from burns. And my partner is indestructible. We can handle this. You on the other hand, even if you do have powers, we still have no idea what you're limits are, if you can heal or not, or how much punishment you can take. I know I'm at risk, but it's a small risk. I will NOT, on the other hand, risk you."

Flashpoint's point was punctuated by the metallic groan of Quarterback, his heavy footsteps leaving imprints in the ground. Roxie was slung over his shoulder in her little prisoner sling.

"Hallo, everybody!" She chirped.

"Oh Flashpoint, you made a friend!" Quarterback explained, lifting the the fallen lamppost and tossing it aside. "Anyway, all the civilians are out, and the firefighters are cleaning up the rest of the flames. I say we make our exist, stage left."

"Exactly!" Flashpoint agreed. He grabbed Kevin's wrist and looked at him as sternly as a man wearing an opac visor that covered all of his facial features could. "Come on!"

Flashpoint and Kevin blurred out, while Eddy jumped into the air, taking Roxie with him.

* * *

Flashpoint and Kevin made it to an empty backalley behind the shops, a small walk away from the high school. "So, what is this, Central Command?" Kevin asked.

"Kevin, listen to me!" Flashpoint insisted. "Me and Quarterback are doing fine as we are. We don't need more people on board to worry about! We're already in way over our heads!"

"That's why you need me!" Kevin insisted. "I have powers. I can help you!"

"Why are you so interested in this Kevin! Isn't a normal life enough?"

"I'm interested in this because...you helped me when I needed you. And if you didn't, then I don't know what would've happened to me. So now I need to pay you back. By helping everyone else that needs people like us."

"Kevin, having powers doesn't automatically make you a hero." Flashpoint warned.

"No, wanting to help does though." Kevin said, inwardly thanking Johnny for loaning him all of his Spider-Man DVDs, these quotes were doing brilliantly so far.

Flashpoint stared at Kevin, and sighed. "We'll talk about this! Later!" He said, before zooming off into the distance.

Kevin stared in awe at the trail of black and green light left by the speedster. He absentmindly fished through his pockets, pulling out his mobile phone.

"Hey, Johnny bro, is my suit finished yet?"

* * *

Double-D changed out of his suit and dumped it in Eddy's boot, dashing back to the student common room. Eddy and Roxie were waiting for him.

"Hey guys." Double-D said.

"Double-D, where's Kevin?" Eddy asked.

"He'll be coming in shortly." Double-D said. "He told me he wanted to join us."

"Like, what, he wanted to eat lunch with us at school?" Eddy questioned.

"No, he wants to join Flashpoint and Quarterback?" Double-D said, as if metabolising the words himself.

Eddy blinked, and raised an eyebrow. Roxie cast a glance at them both and muttered "Why would anybody want to join this freakshow?"

Eddy grunted, clearly annoyed by Roxie's statement, but he reluctantly shrugged and agreed. "Yeah, we're not exactly leading the rockstar love with our little _'Acts of Community Service'_."

"He told me, that he knows we're the ones who helped him, and that he wants to pay us back by helping others." Double-D explained.

Eddy let out a light chuckle of disbelief, "And...you're sure that was KEVIN you were talking to."

Double-D was about to let out a small rebuttle, but was interrupted by Ed's thunderous footsteps.

"Ed, it was about time you got here." Eddy grunted.

"I agree, Metaruman, the ginger one is my favorite." Roxie chimed in.

"Oh my, Ed, whats the hurry." Double-D asked.

"Fah...Feh..." Ed wheezed, exhausted from running. "Fire..."

"Ed, the fire's been dealt with, we're in the clear. We saved everyone we could..." Double-D trailed off, gulping as he remembered the dead that he and Quarterback failed to save from the blaze.

"N...neh...no. Mah...meh...more fire!" Ed wheezed. "Geh...gah...god I am out of shape!"

Double-D blurred out and reappeared, clutching Ed's collar to support him.

"Ed!" He cried. "Where are the fires?"

"It's d-down Rethink Avenue. It's heading to the (gasp) Cul-De-Sac." Ed gasped, catching his breath. "It's not random. They say it's the work of some kind of arsonist. They say one guy is setting Rethink Avenue ablaze!"

Eddy bumped Double-D's shoulder and chuckled. "See you there?"

Double-D grinned and looked Eddy in the eye, and his own eyes began to crackle with Green electricity, before he vanished into a torrent of green sparks.

"It never stops with you people, does it?" Roxie sighed, still slung over Eddy's shoulder.

* * *

Flashpoint reappeared in the epicentre of the Cul-de-Sac. He could see the flames coming behind the treeline of The Cul-De-Sac.

Walking down the road up to the Cul-De-Sac was a boy dressed in red, with a picture of a piece of burned toast emblazoned on his chest.

"ANOTHER ONE? THEY'RE POPPING UP EVERYWHERE?!" Double-D thought to himself. "What has happened to this crazy town!"

"HEY YOU!" The red boy said, pointing at Flashpoint. "WHAT'S WITH THE HALLOWEEN COSTUME!?"

"Why, I'm trick-or-treating of course." Flashpoint chuckled. "I'll take apples, candy..."

Flashpoint then slammed his left fist into his right palm.

"Or TEETH!"

Flashpoint blurred, and appeared right in front of the flaming teen, slugging him in the stomach. The flaming teen gasped as the impact shocked him to the core, and went flying. Flashpoint then reappeared behind the red boy as he sailed through the air. Flashpoint delivered a flurry of strikes across his back.

"Why are you starting fires!" Flashpoint demanded. He roundhoused the teen in the hip, driving him into the road.

The red boy got his bearings, and shook himself to shake off the dizziness.

"Because," the Red Boy answered, "IT'S MY JOB!"

The teen then thrust his hands forward, setting a massive jet of fire towards Flashpoint. The flames his the speedster right in the chest, knocking him backwards. The red teen then ignited the soles of his feet and palms, using the fire as a sort of propulsion to shoot himself into Flashpoint. The red teen socked Flashpoint right in the jaw, the blow to the head temporarily disabling the young speedster.

The two exchanged fists, punching at each other and doing their bests to block or avoid the other's strikes. The red boy hit hard, but Flashpoint was miles quicker.

"Who are you? What do you mean it's your job?" Flashpoint demanded as he punched the boy in the chest.

"My! NAME! IS TOAST!" Toast roared, projecting a wall of burning fire from his chest. Thanks to the close proximity, the wall of flames hit Flashpoint dead on. He screamed in pain. Flashpoint had taken a lot of physical beats, but incendiary attacks were something new. But his burnt flesh was already healing, but Flashpoint knew that would take away from his energy reserves. He looked at the picture on Toast's chest.

'God I could go for some toast right now,' Flashpoint said, unconsciously licking his lips. He shook his head and sighed heavily, before zooming up and plowing a fist into Toast's stomach. Toast's eyes gleamed red, and vomited up a stream of fire from his lips. Flashpoint dodged, but barely.

Toast growled. "Look man, I have a job to do here! Why in the HELL are you bothering me!"

"I'm not gonna let you burn down the homes of innocent people. People died today!" Flashpoint screamed, pointing an accussing finger at Toast.

"Meh, sounds like a YOU problem." Toast grinned sadistically, before opening his mouth and spitting another jet of fire. Flashpoint spun and dodged the flames, and zoomed up to Toast, slugging him in the face.

Toast went flying and landed in a nearby car, crushing it. He jolted upwards, rage in his eyes.

 **"BURN!"** Toast screamed. He created to fireballs in his hands and tossed them at Double-D, who dodged them. Toast ignited his own skin, wreathing himself in fire. The car beneath him began to melt, and Toast jumped up and ran towards Flashpoint.

Then there was a 'twang' sound, and a car was launched at Toast from out of no where. Toast went down, and Flashpoint looked in the direction of the car's origin, and was shocked at what he saw.

It was Kevin, dressed in a superhero suit of his own. It was red, like his still present baseball cap, but it had a white logo on of a man with stretchy powers on his chest, and white accents. He also wore white sunglasses.

Toast got up, and grunted. "Oh great, who's this one supposed to be?"

"I am Mr. Impossible, punk! And you're going down!" Kevin chuckled.

Kevin used his spring-like legs to leap off the ground, and then extended his arms. He wrapped them around Toast's body and spun in mid air, ripping Toast from the ground and spinning him in the air. Kevin landed and used the momentum to smash Toast's body into another Car.

"Kevin!" Flashpoint cried. "Stop smashing cars! People need to pay for those!" Double-D gasped, exasperated.

"Didn't you JUST punch this guy into a car?" Kevin asked, with a bemused smirk.

"Yeah, by accident. You just destroyed two on purpose!" Double-D argued.

Suddenly, Kevin gasped in pain. Toast, still coiled in Kevin's elongated arms, had ignited himself, causing the flames to burn Kevin's arms.

"Kevin!" Flashpoint shouted. Kevin released Toast, who wasted no time launching himself at the pair of would-be heroes.

"Look out!" Flashpoint said, blurring out and shoving Kevin out of Toast's way. Toast zoomed past the pair of them, as they sprawlled on the floor. Flashpoint looked at Kevin.

"Stay down!" He growled, before blurring off, tackling Toast with a ramming attack.

Toast took the hit, and wasn't able to shrug it off in time for Flashpoint's next attack. A rapid series of strikes to the face. Toast was knocked backwards, and stumbled for coming to his senses.

"You shouldn't mess with me, Zippy." Toast said as the flames around his arms licked higher. "I'M PACKING HEAT!"

Toast launched a stream of fire at Flashpoint, who dodged. Toast decided he was done playing around, and he aimed his hands at the nearest house, Jimmy's.

Suddenly, Toast's fire was extinguished, as Kevin's elastic arms had shot out and wrapped themselves around Toast's neck. Toast gasped for air, and Kevin held him still.

"Flashpoint, get him!" Kevin shouted. Double-D nodded, and zoomed over, administering several strikes to Toast's belly. Toast collapsed to his knees, and Kevin jumped, his rubber arms snapping back into shape and slingshotting him right into the small of Toast's back. Toast was plowed into the ground, but was getting back up.

Double-D was beginning to tire out, and Kevin was still suffering from the burns on his arms. The two were standing slightly across from one another, gasping slightly.

"Hey Kevin?" Flashpoint said. "You tired yet?"

Kevin gasped. "Yeah...I don't think I can keep up for very long. I'm a little green, you know."

Toast had pulled himself up to his feet. He had taken a fair amount of punishment, and his muscles were trembling from the fight. His lip had been split, and he wasn't sure how much fire he had inside of him.

"You won't stop me!" Toast shouted, spitting blood onto the ground. "I'LL BURN YOU ALL! I WON'T LET YOU STAND IN MY WAY!"

_"Yeah, well what about me?"_

Toast turned around just to see a giant metal man standing behind him, who raised an arm and smacked Toast away. Toast went flying.

"Quarterback!" Flashpoint and Kevin grinned in unison. Quarterback stomped his way to join the other two heroes, with Roxie still strapped across the giant's back.

"Sorry I'm late." Quarterback grunted. "This one wanted to stop at a gas-station." He said, pointing his thumb at Roxie.

Toast stood up, staring at Mr. Impossible, Flashpoint, and Quarterback. He looked at the bruises on his arms, tasted the blood on his lips, and felt his cracked ribs. He was barely holding his own against the speedster, and now he really didn't want to face off against three of these guys.

"Forget this!" Toast shouted, as he began to stagger off. "You three have no idea who you're up against! I am gonna come back! And the people I really work for are gonna! be! PISSED!"

Toast ignited his feet, and jetted away into the skyline.

"Should we chase him?" Kevin asked.

Flashpoint sighed. He looked around, at the crushed pavements, and the small fires. "No. You're injured, I'm tired, and we need to do some damage control. Kevin, go home. Quarterback, we've got damage control." Flashpoint smiled.

"Dude, I can help you clean up Bro." Kevin motioned, stepping forward, but Flashpoint raised a single finger.

"Go Home, and run your arms under a cold tap or something." Flashpoint said. He and Quarterback began to walk away, to put out some of the fires on the street, but Flashpoint turned back.

"Oh, and Kevin...we will be in touch..."

* * *

_"So, my dear boy. Tell us again why we shouldn't just kill you?"_

**_"Oh now you're just teasing me! I so desperately want to kill him! HAHA!"_ **

Toast gulped. He was standing in a darkened room with four television screens, talking to people he was so very afraid of.

"It's not my fault!" Toast stammered. "There were three of them. Each one had superpowers like me! I couldn't find them off!"

**"Excuses, excuses!"**

"Now now Orson, we must show an iota of sympathy. We will let you off with a slap on the wrist this time Toast. You did disable the cities circuit breakers for us. But you are not to confront those three again! Understand!"

"Yes sir! Thank you sir!" Toast nodded sycophantically. "Um, sir, about Hector..."

"DO NOT TEST ME, TOAST! I'VE REWARDED YOUR INCOMPETENCE BY RESTRAINING MY ASSOCIATES FROM HACKING YOU TO PIECES! NOW LEAVE ME! I AND I ALONE SHALL DECIDE WHETHER YOU DESERVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO REENTER MY GOOD GRACES! NOW LEAVE!"

Toast exited the darkened room in a hurry.

The four screens started to converse with one another.

_"So, what do we do about this...inconveniences...they're proving to be quite irksome."_

**"I say we stopping leaving this to the underlings and track them down ourselves!"**

"No, no, my dear Orson...I say we tell Frag where is sister's been hiding..."


	7. Kevin and Johnny, Pt. 1; Mouse

**Red Lightning; The Gods Are Amongst Us**   
**S1E7: Kevin and Johnny, Pt. 1: Mouse**

_My life changed when a storm, full of red lightning, split the sky in half as it struck the ground._

_My friend Double-D was given super speed. He's all good and justice and stuff, but he's a good guy to have in a fist-fight now. He calls himself Flashpoint now._

_As for me, I'm a giant, metal man. Half the time, anyway. I'm untouchable, stronger than anything, and all it takes are some magic words. Who am I? I'm Quarterback!_

**-Eddy McGee**

* * *

Moka, Neko and Ju stood in the centre ring of the Kazuki Dojo, owned by Mr. Yang. A few miles east of Peach Creek sat the little town of Muramikan. A rustic town, formed mostly as a sort of Little Tokyo with mostly Japanese immigrants. The town was a cultural hotspot and Peach Creek High School took an annual trip to the Kazuki Dojo to participate in a countywide Karate Tournament.

Unfortunately, hard times had hit the town, and most of the town had ended up in the pocket of Black Corporation, and Peach Creek's most affluent businessman, Orson Black. Orson Black had been threatening to evict the town, unless certain activities where allowed to take place.

Now, Moka, Neko, Ju and formally, Roxie were the towns prides and joys. Orson had sat in personally on the Kazuki Dojo for weeks, after a Mysterious Storm occurred in Peach Creek. The four girls where inducted in The Orson Foundation, ostensibly a scheme to allow talented girls to achieve true work experiences and extra-curricular awards.

In truth they were more like Black's personal strike team.

Now, with Roxie captured by an enemy Orson was now beginning to take a vested interest in, the three remaining kuinoichi were being drilled by Orson's lieutenant, Roxie's older brother, Roland Yang. Or as he now insisted on calling himself, Frag.

"Alright you horrid maggots, listen up!" Frag growled. "Mr. Black has a new assignment for us!"

The girls rolled there eyes. Frag used to be nice, but now, he had been completely taken under Mr. Black's spell.

"We're going back to Peach Creek, and we're brokering a deal with Alexei Sokolov, head of the Russian Mob!" Frag barked.

Neko began to growl. She wanted to go back to Peach Creek for days, but it was to find Roxie, a desire that Frag of all people should share. Roxie was his SISTER for crying out loud, and Frag was more interested in pleasing Mr. Black than searching for her.

Ju simply nodded, and hit Neko and Moka around their posteriors with the pole of her Naginata, causing them to nod as well.

"Gear up!" Frag said. "We leave tonight."

* * *

Kevin knocked on the door of Johnny's house. Johnny's house was at the very edge of the cul-de-sac. Recently, Kevin had been spending more and more time with Johnny. Johnny, who was widely regarded as a hippie/nutjob, was not popular amongst the town, and Kevin, big man on campus as he was, would have been hesitant to even be seen with him a few months back.

However, once the superheroes started popping up, Kevin was quick to change his tune, and soon Johnny had become Kevin's private tutor into the world of comic books and superhero stories.

The door opened a crack, and a 2x4 Plank of wood peeped through the gap in the door.

"Who is it Plank?" Johnny's voice sounded from behind the door.

"It's me Johnny! Knock it off!" Kevin grunted.

Kevin folded his arms and growled as Johnny flung the door open.

"KEVIN! How did the superhero hunt go?" Johnny grinned jovially, beckoning Kevin to join him inside.

Kevin held his stern expression as he walked into Johnny's house, but when Johnny shut the door, he swiveled around to face Johnny, wearing the goofiest of grins.

"I saw them. I spoke to them! I FOUGHT ALONGSIDE THEM!" Kevin grinned, stretching his arms over to Johnny, wrapping the bald kid up, and jumping up and down in glee.

"You met them!" Johnny repeated in glee. "They told you who they are?"

Kevin stopped jumping abruptly, and put Johnny down.

"Well, um, no, they didn't tell me." Kevin said. "But after we took down this guy who had FIRE powers, Flashpoint and Quarterback said they would be in touch, and they knew my name, so I guess I know them in real life, but the question is who's who?"

"That makes sense." Johnny said. "So what are you gonna do now?"

"I dunno," Kevin said. "I guess I'll just wait for them to call me, and then talk to them without a massive disaster eating up there time."

The two boys said in silence for a while, until Johnny broke it.

"So, does this mean you won't be coming over anymore?" Johnny asked. Kevin blinked.

"What do you mean?"

Johnny shrugged and rubbed the back of his head. "I know you only talk to me so I can teach you superhero stuff. I also know that most of the guys at school laugh at me. Now you've found Flashpoint and Quarterback, I guess that means you don't need me anymore."

Kevin was a little taken aback. Yeah, he had told himself and Nazz that he was only hanging out with Johnny until Kevin found the two superheroes, but to have Johnny spell it out for him like that...it kind of hurt that Johnny would think that.

"Johnny, bro, I..."

Suddenly, Kevin was interupted by a knock at Johnny's front door. The two men standing in the hallway glanced at each other.

"Are you expecting company?" Kevin asked.

"Nope." Johnny said. There was a short pause before Johnny spoke up again. "You don't suppose...?"

"It could be..."

Kevin tentatively gripped the door knob. He gulped slightly, and yanked the door open.

It wasn't Flashpoint or Quarterback. But rather, it was girl dressed in a Burka.

"Johnny, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had company!" She said.

"Mouse? What are you doing here?" Johnny answered. "Quick, you better come in!"

* * *

Mouse entered Johnny's house, and Johnny led everybody into his kitchen. Kevin spoke up.

"So, wait? How do you know Johnny?" He asked.

Mouse's eyes darted towards Johnny. "Is he...?"

"Kevin's like you. You can tell him everything." Johnny nodded with a smile. Mouse nodded in response.

"My name is Mouse. I am...sort of the local Den Mother for The Underground. A small community of runaways in the subway system."

"Runaways?" Kevin asked.

"Johnny said you were like me. You got hit by the magic lightning storm?"

"Yeah, I got stretchy powers." Kevin responded. "What powers did you get?"

Mouse chuckled, and pointed to her face, covered by a burka. "Let's just say, I don't JUST wear this for religious purposes."

Kevin stepped back and gulped. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what that meant.

"Johnny normally brings us food once a week. But I've come to ask you for help, Johnny." Mouse said.

"What's wrong?"

Mouse sighed. "The Subway Tunnel that my friends and I have set up shop in has recently been taken over by a group of criminals, led by a man named Alexei Sokolov. They want to use the tunnels adjacent to use in order to move stolen pharmaceuticals, and stolen gadgets. They've been holed up in the tunnels for two days now, and my friends can't get leave our tunnel for risk of being detected."

"But Mouse, what can we do?" Johnny asked. "I mean, I could call the police on your behalf if you wish.

"Don't do that! The Police will find my friends and then we'll be outed for what we are!" Mouse cried. "We don't want a fight. We just want to leave, and find a new place to hide. But we can't get out thanks to all the tunnels crawling with Russians."

Johnny sighed. "Well that's no good at all then." He turned to Kevin, who had passively been observing up until now.

"Kevin, are you sure you can't contact Flashpoint & Quarterback? Maybe they can help us?" Johnny asked.

"I have no idea where to find them, I'm sorry." Kevin said regretfully.

Mouse raised an eyebrow. "Who are Flashpoint and Quarterback?"

Johnny and Kevin glanced at eachother, and shrugged. "We'll tell you later. It's very...clandestine." Johnny said.

Mouse nodded. "Very well Johnny, I trust you."

"Look, how did you escape?" Kevin asked. "If you managed to get out, why can't you bring the others with you?"

Mouse shook her head.

"I got out because my powers allow me to navigate tunnels more effectively than everyone else. However, there's one particular runaway who can't be stealthy..."

"You're talking about Boomer, right?" Johnny asked.

Now it was Kevin's turn to raise a brow. "Who's Boomer?"

"Boomer is a runaway I managed to find about a month after the storm hit." Mouse answered. "The guy never speaks, but his powers mean that he's constantly making noise. We can hide him where we are, but we won't be able to move him without detection."

"Why not just leave him behind?" Kevin asked.

Mouse slapped Kevin. It made an audible smack that even made Johnny wince. Kevin wasn't really injured, but the shock that somebody had SLAPPED him was massive.

"DON'T! **YOU!** _**DARE!**_ DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT AGAIN!" Mouse screamed. She looked at Johnny and cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry Johnny. Coming here was a mistake!" Mouse said, as she turned towards Johnny's front door.

"Mouse wait!" Johnny pled, but it was too late. Mouse had exited Johnny's house.

* * *

Mouse had slid down the nearest manhole cover, and was preparing to make her way through the pipes back to The Underground. She liked Johnny, and trusted him. But that man he was with, clearly didn't understand anything about their plight. He had powers, sure, but he didn't have to pay the price. He still had his family, he still could walk in the sunlight. He still had his FACE.

He didn't understand that in The Underground, you only had your friends...

She sighed, and made her way down the twists and turns that led towards the tunnels The Underground were hiding.

* * *

"Why did you say that Kevin!" Johnny snapped.

"I'm sorry! Jeez!" Kevin muttered.

"Sorry doesn't cover it Kevin. You don't get! Mouse has NOTHING. Her friends have NOTHING! You're not the only one with powers. I've known them for a long time. Their powers make it impossible for them to ever walk among normal people again! AND YOU TOLD THEM TO ABANDON EACHOTHER!"

"I SAID I WAS SORRY!" Kevin shouted back. "I DIDN'T THINK! OKAY!"

Johnny sighed, and shook his head. "Whatever man. I gotta go check on Mouse. She can't have got far."

Johnny headed towards to the door. Kevin stretched his arm out to grab Johnny.

"Johnny wait! Let me come with you." Kevin pleaded. "I need to make this right."

Johnny sighed. "Come on then." He muttered. He still hadn't forgiven Kevin, but he knew Kevin deserved the chance to take back what he said.

* * *

Johnny and Kevin slid down the same manhole that Mouse used. Kevin was slightly uncomfortable with the sewers, but Johnny was used to it.

"Follow me," Johnny said. "I know the way to Mouse's usual spot. We might catch her there."

And with that, Johnny jumped into the nearest pipeline, becoming waist deep in sewage. Kevin followed, and stretched his legs upwards to prevent himself from being touched by the muck.

"So, how do you know these guys?" Kevin asked, as the two trudged through the filth.

"They helped me when my powers were out of control. And now I bring them whatever they need to repay the favor."

"Wait, you have powers?" Kevin froze, his eyes almost bulging out of his head.

"Yeah but I don't like to use em. They're not the healthiest of skills."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You never asked."

Kevin was silenced, but before he could ask further, Johnny changed the subject.

"We're getting close. Pipe down. Mouse said there were thugs lurking about."

* * *

Mouse had gotten herself into hot water. She was currently hiding in a narrow pipe, her black burka serving as an excellent camouflage in the pitch black darkness.

"Hey Boris, if you're goink topside, brink me back some noodles, would ya. I'm starvink!"

"Vould you really vant to eat at da bottom of a sewer, Vlad?"

Two Russian mobsters chatted away, but refused to move from their spot, as Mouse hung above them, unseen. However, Mouse knew that she couldn't remain in the pipe for very long, as eventually she'd lose her grip.

Mouse scanned the area for any means of escape or distraction. Unfortunately, she was out of luck in that regard. There was nothing.

Suddenly, Mouse slipped slightly, causing a "SRRYC" noise as she fought to reclaim her grip on the pipe. However, Boris and Vlad drew their guns, having heard the noise.

"What vas that?" Boris growled. He and Vlad looked side to side, keeping their guns trained. Mouse fought herself very hard to keep herself from squeaking in fear.

Suddenly, there was a sound only Mouse's ears could detect. It was a "SPRNG!" noise, like the sound of rubber being stretched.

Rubber...

There was a snap sound, followed by the grunts of Russians in pain. Mouse saw an elongated arm SNAP like an elastic band into Vlad and Boris's backs, flinging them across the sewers. The two dropped their guns and fell face first into the sludge. Then Kevin's other arm whipped up and snapped downwards, smashing Boris and Vlad's heads into the muck.

Mouse gasped as Kevin and Johnny walked into the tunnel. Johnny and Kevin picked up the unconscious Vlad and Boris and propped them face up against a wall, ensuring they didn't drown.

"They didn't look too friendly, did they?" Kevin muttered.

Johnny cocked his head. "We must be getting close. Mouse said there were lots of mobsters down here."

"Yeah, you're not far off now." Mouse said. She dropped down to the floor, much to the shock of Kevin and Johnny. "We're two pipes away from our base."

"MOUSE!" Johnny said, hugging the girl. "We've been searching for hours! We wanted to help!"

"SHHHH!" Mouse hushed. "This place is still crawling with enforcers."

Mouse hurried Johnny and Kevin back into the shadows, and the three snuck down the pipes. Kevin was forced to knock out another mobster, but the trio eventually made it back to a cemented off tunnel.

Kevin raised an eyebrow at this. "This tunnel's been blocked off?"

Johnny chuckled. "Kevin, you have so much to learn!"

Mouse tapped twice, and muttered "Mad Max."

Apparently, this password was acceptable, and to Kevin's amazing, the bricks began to shuffle themselves, opening up to creating an opening. Inside was a muscular boy with blue hair.

"Thank you Yorick." Mouse said. "Close the door behind us please."

Yorick nodded. "Yes ma'am." And with that, Yorick's eyes began to shine a blue colour, and the stones shuffled back to form a wall.

Kevin gasped. There were tens of people down here, some of them looks like they were straight out of a sci-fi film. There were oil drum fires and everybody was dressed in dirty winter gear.

"Kevin, welcome to the Underground." Johnny said.


End file.
